


Repercussions

by Cam719, westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Political, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-27
Updated: 2009-09-27
Packaged: 2019-05-15 05:22:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14784312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cam719/pseuds/Cam719, https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: This is the fourth installment in the Angels and Demons universe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

“Do you remember when we used to go out for New Year’s Eve?” Josh asks me.

“Vaguely,” I reply. “Wasn’t that before the children?”

“Definitely BEFORE the children,” Josh agrees. “We should try that again sometime.”

“Quit the complaining. All your buddies will be here tomorrow for the New Year’s game.”

“Not ALL my buddies.”

“Most of your buddies. Even Mike and Ellie are coming; on their first day back from their honeymoon,” I remind him. “Chris will come around.”

“I thought he was already. At the wedding…” Josh trails off.

“I know. I thought so too and I think we were right. Remember that he made plans for him and Amy to spend New Year’s Eve with John and Suzanne Hoynes a couple months ago. This may be the last hurrah.”

“Maybe.”

“Yeah, maybe. So enjoy the day with the rest of your friends tomorrow and invite Chris again another day.”

“I just…miss my friend and we had so much fun at the wedding.”

“We did. He was so cute with Briana and Ginger. He’s coming around, Josh, I’m sure of it. Just give it a little more time,” I suggest. “Go tuck the kids in while I finish getting things ready for tomorrow. Then we can ‘celebrate’ the New Year privately.”

“Deal,” he agrees immediately and calls for the children who understand what their father is calling them for and run away in two separate directions. Noah is better at hiding than Briana, but all you have to do is say something to make him laugh and he gives himself away. I understand what Josh was saying about going out tonight, but truthfully I don’t miss those days. Spending a quiet evening home alone with my husband and our children is the only way to go for me. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why are they going over to Josh’s right away?” Jed asks me.

“They’re having lunch and watching the game together. Mike and Ellie will stop over around dinner,” I explain…again.

“Why can’t they all come over here and watch the game. I have the big screen TV now and a full time chef. Let’s invite them all here,” he suggests.

“No. They’re having some time with their friends and then they’ll come over for family time.”

“But Ellie’s pregnant and the guys will probably be drinking over there,” he tries again.

“Yes, the guys may be drinking, but I’m relatively certain that nobody will be pouring alcohol down Ellie’s throat.” I roll my eyes. “Is that what all this fuss is about? Ellie being pregnant?”

“You didn’t even tell me until after they left,” Jed pouts.

“Because Ellie asked me not to. She didn’t want you making a fuss in front of everyone. I can’t IMAGINE where she’d get that idea.”

“I can be subtle,” he insists.

“No, you can’t,” I refute. “You’ll see your middle daughter tomorrow evening Jed. Deal with it.”

“I could have her detail bring her here first,” he points out. 

“I don’t think you want to do anything like that,” I whisper close to his ear. “Know why?”

“I’ll get a little punishment?”

“That’s right,” I nod approvingly. “Now how do you want to spend the last hour of the year?”

“With you in my arms,” Jed answers, as he pulls me toward him on the couch until we’re nestled together. 

There’s a quick knock on the door followed by a very agitated Ron Butterfield entering our sitting room.

“Mr. President, there’s a situation,” he tells Jed in a voice that’s out of breath. This can’t be good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The last night of our honeymoon,” I moan as Mike pulled me closer to him. We’re both naked, a state we’ve found ourselves in for most of this trip, and I can feel the entire length of his body pressing against mine. The trip has been perfectly wonderful, but I’m anxious to get home and start our life together there. Mike is thrilled about the baby. He’s even been talking to my stomach; he’s so adorable. If any of his FBI buddies could see him like this, Mike would get endless shit. Lucky for him, I can keep a secret…when I’m offered the right incentive.

“I can’t believe how fast the time has gone.” His hand strokes through my hair, down my neck and shoulders until he reaches my stomach. His hand rests there protectively. “Listen, if you’d rather not go over to Josh and Donna’s, I can call them and explain. I’m sure they’d understand.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and sharing our news,” I assure him. “But no telling the names under consideration, understand Agent Casper?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grins. I love it when he goes all FBI Agent with me. “I keep secrets better than anybody. All part of the service, Mrs. Casper.”

“Remind me again about the other parts of the service?” I prompt him.

“I’m thinking that once we hit midnight here, I may need to do a full body search to make sure you’re not sneaking any contraband into bed with us…just for everyone’s safety, you understand.”

“But that’s not for another 45 minutes.” I pout. 

“I know, but we just concluded our last…body search ten minutes ago. Give me a break, Eleanor.”

“Sex. We had sex, Michael,” I tease and watch his face turn red.

“You can’t say that stuff out loud now!” He predictably freaks out. Ever since he found out about the baby, he has insisted we watch our ‘language’ around our child. 

“Even if the baby could hear what we are saying right now, it would have no idea what we were talking about.”

“Okay, if you truly want a repeat performance, you need to stop talking about the baby ‘cause it’s a mood killer.”

“Mood killer?!” I ask with raised eyebrows. “Now you’ve hurt the baby’s feelings.”

Mike instantly leans over so his mouth is next to my belly button. “I’m sorry, baby, Daddy didn’t mean it. It’s all your mother’s fault.”

“Mike!”

“It is,” he teases some more and we start wrestling until a knock at the door breaks the action.

“Mrs. Casper? It’s Agent Rowland. I need to speak to you immediately, ma’am.”

Mike and I exchange puzzled glances. This is the first time in the whole trip that my detail has interrupted us.

“Just one minute, please,” I request and search out both our robes. We hurriedly tie the belts and open the door.

“We need to do a room to room search, ma’am,” Rowland advises us.

“Why? You did one before we came in this afternoon and nobody else has come inside since then.”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience ma’am, but it’s standard procedure.”

“Mike?” I turn to my husband for interpretation.

“Something’s happened. Hold tight.” Mike fishes his cell out of his pants pocket on the floor and opens it to dial.

“No phone calls unless they’re on a secured line, Agent Casper,” Rowland orders and Mike snaps it shut right away. 

“Something really bad has happened,” he whispers in my ear and holds me tightly to him. What. The. Hell?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s great that you both could join us.” John Hoynes raises his glass in a toast. 

“It’s an honor to be asked,” Amy replies and I keep a neutral smile on my face. If it was possible to cancel plans with a sitting Vice President without committing career suicide as a politician, I would have done it already. As it stands, I’m stuck here for the next 17 hours or so. I fill up Amy’s glass again hoping I can get her plenty drunk before the clock strikes midnight in 40 minutes or so. I’m in no mood to placate Amy in bed this evening. 

“Mr. Vice President, we located your briefcase.” An Agent tells him as he enters and hands it to Hoynes.

“It’s about damn time,” Hoynes grouses and snatches it from the Agent who leaves us again. Hoynes adjusts the combination on the briefcase and takes out a couple different file folders before placing them in a drawer of his desk in the corner of the room. Once he has them put away he lets out a deep breath, like he’s relieved. It makes me wonder what’s in the folders. John Hoynes has been on edge about the brief case most of the night.

I’m able to fill Amy’s glass two more times before the Secret Service Agents abruptly interrupt us once more. Without a word of explanation, Hoynes is whisked away with them. Shit. Has something happened to the President?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Will you PLEASE answer that?” Donna requests. 

“Ummm…yeah.” I’m a little disoriented since we only went to sleep about an hour ago. “Josh Lyman…what? I’m sorry, can you repeat that please? It’s confirmed? But…” I start to object, but then they tell me the proof they have; there’s an Agent down. “I’ll…I’ll be right in.”

“Josh?” Donna queries. “What is it?”

“I have to go in. I’ll call you once I have some details,” I promise, hoping she’s disoriented enough not to notice I didn’t give her a direct answer. No such luck.

“Josh…what IS it?”

“Zoey Bartlet has been kidnapped.”

“Are they sure that…”

“There’s an agent down.” I say quickly and kiss her forehead as a goodbye. 

“Oh, God! Liz? Ellie?!” She demands.

“I don’t know anything about them. They only mentioned Zoey. I’ll call when I can,” I promise again as I leave the room, still buttoning my shirt.

TBC


	2. Repercussions

“Do you know anything?” Matt demands entering my bedroom.

“What the hell am I going to know?” I counter. I’m rushing around the bedroom throwing anything I can into a bag for Josh. The next to enter is Chris. Both are out of breath and both are thankfully without their significant others. Not that I don’t adore Scott, but I can’t stand Amy.

“I don’t know; did Josh tell you anything?” Matt counters.

“Yeah, he broke it down for me step by step and he gave me launch codes too, all in the ten seconds it took him to get the call and leave.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just…”

“I know,” I say. “We know Zoey Bartlet’s missing and there’s a secret service agent dead. We don’t know anything about anyone else.”

“We can’t get Mike on his cell,” Chris replies.

“Yeah, I tried him too,” I say. “He probably had to shut it off.”

“Where are you going?” Matt asks with a sweeping gesture of his hand.

“I’m packing stuff up to take to Josh. He’ll probably be there for a while.”

“You think they’re just going to let you walk in the White House?” Matt laughs.

“My husband is there.”

“Donna, the President’s daughter is MISSING. NO ONE is getting into the White House until she is found who is not an essential person. It’s going to be in lockdown. The airports are closed, the city borders are closed, the train stations are closed, the Metro is closed, cabs have been pulled over. The city is in lockdown.”

“Well, I have to do SOMETHING!” I shout.

“You can start by not waking up your kids,” Chris says quietly. 

This is a nightmare. If it’s a nightmare for me, I can’t imagine what it’s like for the Bartlets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dad!” Ellie cries out as she tears across the Oval Office to where her father is standing. He embraces her desperately and Abbey immediately moves over to us. “Do we know anything?” she asks.

“We know some stuff,” the President replies.

“Do we know who has her? Where she is?”

“We don’t know that stuff.”

The President looks like he’s aged decades since I saw him a short week ago. I imagine he didn’t look like this yesterday.

“Eleanor, why don’t you head upstairs with your mother? Liz is on her way. Mike, you stay here for a while.”

“Okay,” Ellie nods. She squeezes my hand as she goes by. Once she’s out of the room and the doors are closed again, it’s just me, the President, Leo McGarry and Ron Butterfield. 

“How was your honeymoon, Mike?” the President asks.

Is he kidding me?

“Um, it was great, sir until about 15 minutes ago.”

“I had high hopes for the New Year.”

“Me too.”

“I hear congratulations are in order.”

“Sir, I don’t really…”

“I’m getting more grandchildren, Mike; it’s still a good thing.”

“Yes, sir. We’re very excited.”

He pauses a minute before he speaks again. “Agent Casper…” Okay, THAT’S not a good sign. “…things are going to get very ugly for me. This is not a typical kidnapping. There’s national security to think about here. We don’t know what this is and I don’t know the decisions I’m going to have to make. No matter what happens; no matter WHO is Commander in Chief, I want you in the Situation Room. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I nod immediately. He wants to make sure there’s someone that’s going to give it to him straight. He wants to make sure that there’s someone in there representing the Bartlet family.

“The Director is going to try to make you stand down.”

“I imagine he will, yes, sir.”

“Leo is going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And then when the time comes, I want you in the field.”

I was hoping he wouldn’t say that.

“I understand, sir.”

“Good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you know anything more?” Donna asks me and I sigh into the phone.

“No.”

“They’ll find her though, right?”

“Yeah,” I say with no confidence. Oh sure, they’ll find her…eventually.

“I wish I could be there with you,” she whispers. Me too. Donna has always had a way of calming me down in every situation. Just her presence is soothing. She doesn’t even have to be DOING anything. “I have a bag of stuff here for you, but I don’t know how to get it to you.”

“Yeah, you can’t bring it,” I say with another tired sigh and run my hand down my face. 

“Maybe Jackie?” 

“No, she’s stuck here.”

“Should I swing by her place too?” she offers. Donna’s just so generous, and feeling so helpless right now I’m sure.

“No, she’s fine.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I asked her,” I reply. “Baby, don’t worry about us. We’re used to this kind of stuff.” Well, we’re used to being here for interminable amounts of time anyway, if not this exact situation.

“How’s everybody else?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen anyone. I know everyone is here upstairs, but we can’t go up there and they’re not coming down here.” 

“I can’t get anyone on their cells.” 

“The Secret Service has ordered anyone without a secured line to shut their phones off.”

I hear her let out a shuddering breath and I wish I could be in the same room with her to comfort her. And I could use the comfort too.

My eyes snap up to the doorway when Mike appears in it. “Donna, Mike’s here. I’ll call you back.”

“Tell him I’m thinking about all of them,” she says.

“Kay.” I snap my phone shut and look up at my friend. “Donna said to tell you she’s thinking of everyone.”

“She’s probably going out of her mind right now,” he smirks.

“She’s not the only one.”

“Everyone feels helpless right now,” he replies.

“How’s everyone holding up?” I ask cautiously.

He blows out a long breath. “Not well.” 

“How are YOU holding up?”

“The President wants me in the Situation Room come hell or high water, and then he wants me in the field…when the time comes.” 

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s got a lot of trust in you, Mike. Even if you weren’t his son in law, he’d want it to be you.” 

“That’s probably because of you.”

“Who cares? You’re his guy.”

The room falls silent for a few moments. “Poor kid,” Mike says. “I REALLY hope I get a crack at these guys.”

“We all do,” I agree. “At least you’ve got an actual decent shot.”

“Well, I can’t make any guarantees, but if I’m in a room with them, I think a lot of people are going to have to look the other way for a bit.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wow. You look…not good.”

I lift my head off my desk at the sound of Chris’s voice in my office.

“How did you get in here?” I ask surprised. He drops a duffle bag on my chair and drapes some clean suits over top.

“The Vice President,” he replies. “He’s asked some people to come and…well, witness. He wants to send a strong message, I guess, that someone is in charge and working with everyone, considering all the options, blah, blah, blah.”

He sits down in the other chair and leans forward with his elbows on his knees. He studies me very closely. “You really don’t look good, Josh.”

“It’s because I’m tired.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah.”

“Cuz if Donna saw you right now…”

“Really, I’m just tired,” I assure him. Then I look at him for a long moment. “Thanks though.”

“I don’t want to ever go through that again.” 

“You and me both,” I say with a dry chuckle, but his words and his concern give me pause. After everything we’ve been through with him the last year, he’s still so concerned about me. He was there for me in the darkest time of my life, yet here I’ve been not returning the favor…okay, well, Matt’s been the same; it hasn’t just been me. 

But all he cared about was that I was going through a rough time and might be now, never caring about the political ramifications. Yet that’s ALL Matt and I have cared about.

Don’t I feel like shit?

“Doesn’t the Vice President need you?”

“I’ll make it there eventually.” Chris shrugs. “Have you seen Mike?”

“Briefly.”

“I couldn’t get him on his cell.”

“He’s on a different one right now. It’s frustrating the hell out of him because the Secret Service said no one can use unsecured phones and Mike’s teams are not always able to get in touch with him. He’s going to start cracking heads together I think.”

“And Ellie?”

“I haven’t seen her, but Mike said they’re not doing well up there.”

“I bet.”

“How are you doing?”

“Me?” He looks genuinely surprised I asked. Now I feel even worse. “I’m fine.” 

“Things are going to be turned upside down here for a while,” I say. My voice sounds hollow.

“At least it’s a Democrat,” he sighs. “Can you imagine if it was Walken?” 

“That’s not even funny as a joke.” 

“I didn’t mean it as one.”

“I know; I’m just saying,” I say. “You don’t sound too enamored now.”

“Eating crow is never a good diet, Josh.” He holds my gaze for a while and I know there’s a bigger conversation looming for us when all this blows over.

If it ever blows over.

TBC


	3. Repercussions

“Ainsley?” I hear my name called from the doorway and look up to see Chris Wick.

“Hi Chris.”

“You look busy. You MUST be busy considering the circumstances. I’ll talk to you some other time.”

“Actually, I’m only here because we’re in lockdown. There isn’t a lot for the counsel’s office to do at this point. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Probably nothing. It’s just…never mind.” Chris starts to back out of my office, stammering.

“Chris, why don’t you come in, sit down, and we’ll open a couple of beers. We can chat about the weather while you decide whether or not you trust me with whatever it is that brought you here in the first place.” I open the mini-fridge and toss him a bottle of beer before opening one for myself. I was hoping to share this with Sam, but I haven’t seen him in a couple hours now. The tension is so thick around here you could cut it with a knife.

I pretend to pay Chris no mind as I sit back down at my desk and put my feet up. “Sam and Toby are busy writing two speeches,” I share. Chris’s eyebrows draw together in puzzlement until understanding dawns.

“That must be the worst job in the world right now.”

“That or the person who has to report no progress to the President every fifteen minutes,” I muse.

“Has there been…I mean, can you tell me if there’s been any talk of the President stepping aside for Hoynes until this is all resolved?” he asks cautiously.

“Nothing that I’ve heard, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” I tell him. “Why? Thinking you might be tapped to assist if that happens?” I say cattily and almost apologize, but his instantaneous response strikes me as honest and miserable.

“More like praying I’m not,” he mutters. “I’m not sure that would be good for anyone. The problem is in the House.” Now it’s my turn to look puzzled. “We don’t control the House, and Speaker Walken is next in the line of succession.”

Why the hell is he talking about the line of succession when Hoynes is the next in line…unless…

“Chris…do you have some reason to believe the Vice President could not or should not fulfill his duties to replace the President should it become necessary in the course of the events that are unfolding?”

“That sounded very lawyerlike,” he replies.

“I’m a lawyer. What’s your answer?” I press.

“There have been some…developments that have led me to…suspect…that perhaps…there may be some activities going on in respect to the Vice President…the legality of which are of concern to me.” 

“That sounded very carefully constructed.”

“I’m a politician.”

“Chris…”

“Do you understand that if I bring something up right now, when there’s a decent chance that President Bartlet may want or need to step down, that disqualifies the Vice President from assuming the President’s duties, I will be putting the Presidency in the hands of Glen Walken?!”

I pause to think those consequences through as well as carefully frame my response.

“Do you understand the ramifications of having information about the Vice President and potentially illegal activities that you fail to disclose if he then becomes President…?”

He pales.

“Chris, tell me what this is about.”

“I wanted to go to Mike about this, but I can’t get in touch with him.”

I nod my understanding. 

“There have been some suspicious things I’ve noticed lately and it’s weighing on me. I don’t think John Hoynes is the man I thought he was.”

“Give me a ‘for instance’.”

“For instance…I was going to join him in his home office when I heard him discussing a classified NASA report so I decided to wait outside the door. At the end of the conversation, he told the person at the other end that he loved them too.”

“Perhaps his wife…”

“His wife was down the hall in the kitchen right where I’d left her minutes earlier. He’s also made some…strange comments about the President’s MS. Now when I look at the fact that these circumstances might elevate him to the Oval…”

“Chris, you aren’t suggesting that he had ANYTHING to do with Zoey…”

“No! God, no!” He nearly stands up in his urgency. “Nothing like that! I simply meant that if he’s leaking classified information as Vice President, he SHOULDN’T be elevated to President even though the next person in line is a Republican.”

“Okay,” I nod. “Let me dig into this a bit with my new associate counsel. We’ll just keep it between us until and unless we uncover some clear evidence.”

“Thanks Ainsley.” He breathes a sigh of relief while I take in a breath of tension. I’ve got the hot potato.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can I just say the situation room sucks? It sucks under any circumstances. But when your father-in-law is the President and your sister-in-law has been abducted at a New Year’s Eve party…

“Mr. President, as I told you earlier, the city is completely shut down. Nobody is getting out,” Ron Butterfield reiterates slowly. All of us are sharing looks of concern over the President’s apparent trouble with short term memory. Is it an effect of the M.S. or an effect of a father whose daughter has been abducted? It’s a tough call and we’re relying on the Surgeon General to make that call. She’s been at the President’s side for the last two hours. 

“Okay, but if they got her out of the city BEFORE your teams dropped the net…” President Bartlet notes.

“We’re following every avenue of investigation sir,” Ron assures him.

“Agent Casper?” The President turns to me. We’ve developed a short hand over the past couple hours. When he calls me Mike, he wants a personal conversation. When he refers to me by my title, he wants only professional interaction. It’s working for us.

“It’s a good news/bad news situation, sir,” I begin. “The good news is that no group is claiming responsibility for the abduction. That means our high profile enemies aren’t involved and you’re not going to be asked to remove troops from someplace or have to send troops somewhere to fight this out. The bad news is that whoever has your daughter isn’t on our radar which says this has been organized by a person or persons who are not ‘professionals’.” I look to Ron who nods in agreement. “Which tells us they may not act or react as predictably as we’d like.”

“So we just…wait?!” President Bartlet nearly explodes with a frustrated boom out of helplessness.

“Sir…we believe we’re going to be contacted very soon by whoever is holding her and that they have some kind of very personal agenda. They’ll want to ransom your daughter for whatever personal favor they’re going to demand. In the meantime, they’re going to take very good care of her because they know we’ll demand proof of life before we do anything for them,” I explain.

“Proof of…life?” President Bartlet chokes on the last word.

“Yes, sir,” Ron takes over. “A picture of her holding today’s newspaper, speaking to her on the phone, something that will convince us that she’s alive and unharmed would all be considered proof of life.”

The President sits down wearily. “So…we wait.”

“I’m afraid so, sir.” I agree and sit next to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Josh? I’m sorry to bother you but I need a minute,” Ainsley tells me. I look up in surprise to see she’s already in my office.

“Come on in. There’s not a lot for me to do at this point.”

“I have a problem.”

“A Republican with a problem; alert AP.” I suggest.

She rolls her eyes but doesn’t comment on my snarkiness. “I got a tip earlier…about the Vice President and I thought since you know him so well…”

“You’re going to turn one of the worst days of my life into THE worst day of my life aren’t you?”

“You’ve been through much worse days,” she reminds me, and I suppose she’s right.

“What’s the problem with Hoynes? Another woman?” I guess and she shuts the doors of my office before she responds.

“Yes, but it’s more complicated than that,” she tells me and sighs. “We believe he’s sharing classified information with this woman. And the woman? She’s writing a book.”

“Dear. God.” My head falls back to hit the headrest on my chair. “What if the President has to…” I break off thinking I shouldn’t share that option just yet, but Ainsley is sharp.

“If he invokes the 25th and the Vice President is unable to assume the office, we’d be looking at a Walken Presidency.” 

“Shoot me now,” I beg.

“Don’t even TEASE about that, Josh Lyman. Donna would kick your ass for even thinking it.”

“Yes. Yes, sorry,” I apologize and actually smile a little at the ferocity of Ainsley’s response to my unthinking utterance. “I’m assuming you wouldn’t be bringing this to me if you hadn’t gotten some kind of confirmation, but how confident are you in your sources?”

“Completely confident. Oliver Babish is on it now,” she says sadly and starts spreading out papers on my desk. I connect the dots pretty quickly. “Where’d your tip come from? One of your Republican friends?”

“One of your Democratic friends, actually,” she smirks. “Chris Wick brought it to me.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No.”

“You are freaking kidding me.”

“No.”

“He called you?”

“He’s in the building. He had some suspicions about this issue as well as another that we’re still looking into. He wanted to give it to Mike, but couldn’t get in touch with him, so…”

“Wow.” I think about what it must have taken for him to basically rat out the man who has been dangling the Vice Presidency in front of Chris; a lot. He’s coming over from the dark side! I quickly call his cell and find out he’s in the mess downstairs. I thank Ainsley for the head’s up and leave her sitting in my office while I take the stairs two at a time in an attempt to find Chris. He’s seated in the back corner playing with the straw sticking out of his soft drink.

“Any word?” he asks when I get closer to him.

“No. At least not about Zoey. Lots of words on the subject you discussed with Ainsley.” I’m not stupid enough to discuss it openly here. “Babish is on it. Thanks.”

“Boy, that’s really not the response I was thinking you’d have,” he chuckles humorlessly.

“Are you kidding me? If something…changed here and this was disclosed after things…changed, we’d be in such deep…” I trail off. “Besides, I know what that must have cost you to bring that to Ainsley in the first place. Once Hoynes finds out the two of you will be done.”

“I’m ready for us to be done,” he says confidently and I can see that he means it. I can also see that he’s waiting to see if I pick up the implications of his remark. I can’t let him down.

“We’re all ready for you to be done. I’ve given President Bartlet my notice. I’ll be done here the last day in February. We sure could use some help with Matt’s campaign.”

His lips twitch. “You expect me to go from the Democratic front runner to the Independent no chance in hell campaign?”

“Why not? You’ve got something better to do?” I tease. “And don’t knock the ‘no chance in hell’ campaign. There’s something freeing about people having no expectations about your campaign whatsoever. Matt might actually get to say whatever the hell he wants. How many times have you wished you could do that while you were campaigning?”

“Too many to count,” he admits.

“Why don’t you come upstairs with me to my office? We can wait for word there.”

He accepts my olive branch and we walk back upstairs in companionable silence.

TBC


	4. Repercussions

When we get into my office Mike’s standing there looking a little…grave. I don’t like that look at all.

“Should I…leave?” Chris asks apprehensively.

“I don’t think so,” Mike says. He sounds so official.

“So you have nothing for me?” I ask.

“No, I just don’t think it’s something a U.S. Congressman can’t hear,” he shrugs. “We were contacted a little while ago by people claiming to have Zoey Bartlet. They’ve made certain demands…” he drifts off and looks at Chris and then back at me. “…and we demanded proof of life. The call got cut off then.” 

Chris blows out a breath and I run a hand down my face and sigh deeply. “And what do *we* think of that?” I demand.

“They either don’t have her, can’t prove that she’s alive, or she was…indisposed at the moment.”

“Indisposed?” Chris asks.

“Unconscious,” I answer.

“Or just not in the room with the caller,” Mike finishes. 

“So really, all we’ve got is a phone call,” I conclude.

“Yes,” Mike says tight lipped.

“We know nothing more than we did.” 

“That’s not entirely true.” 

“All right.”

“Do you have to get back?” Chris asks.

“I’ve got my pager, and multiple cell phones.”

“We’ve tried to get you on your cell.”

“Well, I had to shut my private line off, but now that number’s being routed to a secured number too.” 

Chris’s eyes widen and he pales a bit. No doubt he’s having a moment much like myself…wondering how in the world guys like us got into positions like these.

“So listen, we’ve got a whole other problem,” I say to Mike, leaning up against my desk and crossing my arms. 

“The *only* problem I have right now is that the daughter of the President of the United States, my sister in law, is missing and quite possibly dead,” Mike insists.

“Well no,” I say. “That’s actually not the only problem you have right now.” 

“Is it a threat to national security? Because I don’t think I can handle another threat to national security.” 

I look pointedly over at Chris and Mike follows my gaze. “Shit. What?”

But before we can explain, Mike’s cell phone rings. He frowns when he looks at the I.D. “I don’t recognize the number.” And he answers it on speaker phone. “Agent Casper.”

At first there’s no noise on the other end. He looks like he’s about to hang up when we’re all floored by the first sound that comes through the phone. “Mike?” It’s so quiet and so shaky that every drop of blood slides from my head to my toes. We all reach the same horrifying, yet exhilarating moment at the same time.

Zoey.

And she’s alive.

“Zo?” Mike asks frantically.

“Yeah.” 

“Prove it.” He’s all business and yet not at the same time. He’s looking for the code word that we’re all assigned in the event something like this happens so we can identify ourselves.

“Hummingbird.” 

I can feel the tears start to sting my eyes.

“How are you?” Mike asks.

“I’m…okay…”

“How okay?” 

There’s mumbling in the background that sounds very angry and threatening. And she pauses before she answers, “Mostly okay.” 

“Can you describe where you are?”

“No.” 

“At all?” I jump in.

“Josh?”

“Yeah, we’re in my office now.”

Mike takes a deep breath and chokes it back out. “I know you’re scared, Zo,” he says quietly, but firmly. “But I’m going to bring you home. I promise.”

She sobs into the phone and not a single one of us isn’t affected by the sound of it. “It’s just…I can’t get The First Noel out of my head.” 

The three of us exchange confused looks. There’s the sound of fumbling on the other end of the phone and I tense. “There’s your proof.” The words are cold, chilling, and line goes dead.

“Zoey?!” Mike calls, but silence answers him. “God damnit!” 

“She’s alive,” Chris says. “It’s good. We know she’s alive.” 

“But I didn’t get enough time to try to trace the call.”

“You’ve got the number,” I say.

“Yeah. I need to bring this downstairs and see if they’re able to play back the call,” he says. “I’ll be back.” 

He leaves the office. The tension in the air is thick. It hangs like fog. It feels like it’s pushing against every square inch of my skin and if it doesn’t break soon, I’ll implode. 

“I can’t believe we just heard her,” Chris says. “What do you suppose it means?” 

“What?” I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone. I feel very much alone.

“The First Noel,” he says. “She said she can’t get The First Noel out of her head.” 

“I didn’t…” I say and then shake my head. “She sounds scared.”

“Are you okay?” he asks after a beat.

“I’m not…yeah.” But I feel a little dazed, a little lightheaded maybe. I haven’t been getting all that much sleep the last few days. 

“Josh?” Chris asks again, but he sounds a little more concerned. I sit down in my office chair and look up at him.

“Yeah?” 

“You got a little distracted there,” he says. 

“Oh, I was thinking about the call. She sounded off.”

“Maybe she’s tired,” he suggests. He moves to my mini-fridge, removes a bottle of water, unscrews the cap and hands it to me. I gulp down half of it before I think that gesture seemed a bit odd. 

“And scared,” I say softly. “She’s probably terrified. She’s alone.”

“I can’t begin to imagine.” He sits down across from me. I’m still trying to clear my head. I feel like I’m on the cusp of figuring something out. It’s just out of my reach, but at the same time, I feel off. It’s been a few years actually since I felt like this. I recognize the look in Chris’s eyes. 

“I’m not going to wig,” I say after a beat.

“I don’t think you’re going to *wig*,” he chuckles.

“Don’t you?” 

“No. I just want to make sure you’re okay. You spaced out a bit there and you need to be on your game now.” 

“Thanks for being on the lookout.” 

“Josh, that was the worst…” he begins and trails off. He cocks his head to the side and looks like he either lost his thought or something just occurred to him.

“What?”

“The First Noel.”

“What about it?” 

“It was a clue.” 

“What?” 

“What if she was trying to tell us something?” he asks. “Don’t you think that’s kind of an odd thing for her to say? Mike asks her how she is and she says she can’t get a song out of her head?” 

“She could be out of it; she could not know what she’s talking about. If they drugged her…”

“Or she’s trying to tell us something,” he says, shaking his head. 

“Well, Mike’s on that,” I dismiss. “I have to figure out the Vice President thing.”

“Walken can’t step up.”

“I know.”

“No, I’m saying this as a member of Congress. Walken *can’t* step up.”

“And I’m aware of that,” I counter a little more testily than I had intended. “You think I want *him* of all people sitting in the Oval Office. NOW?” 

“But if the Vice President’s mess comes out after…”

“I know, I know,” I sigh. 

“Josh,” Jackie says coming into the office. “Leo’s looking for you.” 

“Should I stick around?” Chris asks as we stand up.

“As long as they let you stay in the building,” I reply walking towards the door. I need my friends around me. I can’t get my wife or Matt in the building, but I’ve got Chris and Mike, even though Mike is totally preoccupied at the moment. 

I cross the threshold and Chris’s voice stops me. 

“Josh.”

“Yeah.” I turn back around. 

“The First Noel.” 

“Yeah, I know.”

“No, it IS a clue. Zoey was trying to tell us something in a way that they wouldn’t understand but we would.”

“She was talking in code? Like a clue to where she was?”

“No, I think it was about who’s got her.”

“Who?”

“West Virginia White Pride.”

The force of his words hit me unexpectedly like a tidal wave. I can feel the blood fall from my face and my chest start to tingle anxiously. Of course I’ve heard those words many times over the years, but they take on a new meaning when he puts them in this context. 

This is not political.

This is personal.

TBC


	5. Repercussions

I can barely hold my head up. Abbey is in here taking my blood pressure every half hour. I think she just wants to feel like she’s doing SOMETHING. We’re both exhausted and we have no better idea now than we did a few hours ago about where and how our youngest daughter is. I should try to get some sleep, but every time I close my eyes I see Zoey’s frightened face behind my eyelids.

Mike comes barreling into the study talking a mile a minute to Ron. Suddenly he turns his attention to me. Abbey, sensing something has changed, stands up and walks over to join us. 

“We’ve had a communication from Zoey,” he tells us.

“From Zoey or from whoever has her right now?” I ask for clarification.

“From Zoey. I spoke to her personally, sir.” Abbey’s hand flies to her mouth and the tears start pouring down her face. “She told me she’s okay and she sounded tired, but otherwise fine. We have a copy of the call if you’d like to hear it.”

I nod my agreement to the plan and Mike places a recording device on the table in front of us and presses the play button. Soon I hear Zoey’s voice drifting up to us and Mike is right; she sounds tired but like herself. I try to hold my tears back.

“We’re running a trace on the call and the cell phone number the call was made from,” he assures me. Just then the door opens again and Josh nearly trips in his urgency to get to us. 

“Chris Wick and I…” He’s out of breath. “We were talking. Chris figured it out. It was a clue.”

“What was a clue?” I ask.

“The First Noel reference. I told her that story. I told her that story in front of Mike, Chris, and Matt. I told her that thanks to the West Virginia White Pride, I would forever hear the First Noel in my head. That’s what she said she heard when she was on the phone with us; “The First Noel”. She was telling us who had her; the West Virginia White Pride.”

Mike and Ron share a look. “Who’ve we got on WVWP?” Ron asks Mike.

“Grey and his team are on surveillance at their headquarters. Jeffers is under.”

“Under?” I repeat.

“Undercover, Mr. President. Agent Jeffers is in deep undercover with one of their locations. We’re going to need to talk to him,” Ron states.

“I’ll do my best,” Mike promises.

“Within the next 15 minutes, Agent Casper.”

“I will get my man out of there as quickly as is possible considering the situation,” Mike shoots back. “There’s a drag net out and everyone is searching for Zoey Bartlet, if Jeffers just disappears…”

“His safety is secondary to the information he might be able to get us, Agent Casper,” the FBI Director, Bob Wilson, chimes in. “I want him in here within a half hour. Understood?”

“Yes. Sir,” Mike snaps off and hurries off the way he came in.

“Mr. President, I have to bring up, again, my hesitation in having Agent Casper handle this op,” Bob says quietly to me.

“I appreciate your candor, Bob, but I want Mike.”

“He’s in too deep here on too many levels,” Bob explains. “His sister-in-law is the subject of an abduction that has already resulted in a Secret Service agent death. Agent Jeffers was once his partner and now trying to extricate him from his deep cover assignment is going to put him in grave danger. I don’t know that Mike can be objective right now.”

“I don’t want him to be objective. That’s what I have you and Agent Butterfield for. Mike knows the players and is highly personally motivated to solve this without any further injury to anybody.” I pause. “I trust the man.”

“As do I, sir, he’s one of our very best,” Bob agrees. “I just…”

“Josh? Thank you for your speed in getting that clue up here to us. You tell Chris Wick there’ll be a round on me when this is all over.”

“I will, Mr. President,” Josh replies.

“You look like you could use some rest. Go home. See your wife. Hold your children very close, and come back in a few hours.”

“Mr. President…” He starts to object.

“I mean it, Josh. Get some rest. I’m going to need you running on full cylinders in a few hours.” I give him a meaningful look and his eyes widen. He knows what I’m hinting at. Hoynes is going to need Josh Lyman at his best if he has to take over for me.

“You’ll let me know before anything executive is decided, sir?”

I nod. “Go home.”

“Yes, Mr. President. I’ll see you in a few hours,” he assures me and heads out as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Daddy!” My son greets me in his usual fashion; by flinging himself into my arms. I hold him so tight he complains. “Ouch!”

“Sorry, buddy. I’m just so glad to see you. Where’s Mommy and Bri?” Donna told me she was not going in to work today. Nothing is happening on the Hill anyway. Noah points up the stairs toward the bedroom, but when we get there I hear the undeniable sound of splashing in the bathroom. Bri must be taking a bath. I push the door open a bit and just watch. Bri is having fun with her usual game of ‘bath the bather’. Donna and I usually resort to rock, paper, scissors, to decide who gets the unenviable job of bathing our daughter since whoever gets the job, might as well get in the tub themselves.

“Mommy, look!” Noah shouts and inadvertently ruins my moment of observation.

“Josh!” The joy that comes over my wife’s face at seeing me home does wonderful things for my heart. She is torn, I can see between wanting to come to me, and not wanting to leave our daughter unattended in the tub, so I make it easy for her and go to her; still holding Noah in my arms. “How are you?”

“Tired…sad…stressed. But very happy to be home with my family,” I share and she holds me tighter.

“Daddy!” Brianna climbs out of the tub and joins the family hug which gets everyone sopping wet. Would it surprise you to know I just don’t give a damn? My family is here and safe.

“Why don’t we all get changed into some dry things and we can have lunch together?” Donna suggests. “When do you have to be back?”

“A few hours.”

“You should take a nap.”

“No naps,” Noah keys into the word immediately.

“No naps,” I repeat. “Family movie time.” I decree to the cheers of my children.

The next hour is completely normal. There are no fevered phone calls or tension filled meetings. Donna studiously avoids the TV and we have lunch like it’s any other day. After lunch we gather on our bed and turn on the latest Disney flick. I doze on and off as Donna’s hand makes lazy circles on my back. Both kids are out like lights. I wish I could just stay cocooned here but inevitably, the phone call comes.

“I’ve got to go back,” I tell my wife as I kiss her forehead. I’ve brought her up to speed on what we know so far so she looks alarmed at my announcement.

“They’ve got a list of ransom demands.” I get up from the bed and kiss each of the kids. “I’ll call when I can.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pull Jeffers from the field. Just pull him! Like he hasn’t spent almost a year in deep cover trying to shut down these loonies. Like he hasn’t risked his life every day to try to complete this op. Now I’m supposed to just pull him? Without any regard to HIS safety? Yes of course I want Zoey back! Safe and unharmed. I also want Jeffers back safe and unharmed. Why is one life given more priority than another? Jesus, I need some sleep!

I put things in motion that will get Jeffers out of his current location as safely as possible. It’s all I can do. I have to put him in the room with the President, the Director, and Ron Butterfield within the half hour. I want to check on Ellie. This stress can’t be good for the baby. I decide to take a quick run through the residence to do just that. That’s when I run into Doug Westin; prick.

“Hey, what do you know?” he asks like he gives a shit. That’s probably not fair. I’m sure he gives a shit. In fact, it’s touching how he’s given up his ‘alone time’ with the nanny to be involved in the family crisis. Yes, I know all about the affair. It’s not hard to spot. Liz deserves better.

“We heard from Zoey. She sounds okay. We’ve got some solid leads. Where’s Ellie?”

“She and Liz are holed up with Abbey,” Doug reports. “They’re in the solarium.”

I hurry over and see all three women sober and red eyed. Abbey stands up when she sees me.

“We’ve heard from her. I spoke to her personally. She’s okay,” I tell her quickly.

She sinks back into her chair. “Thank God. Now what?”

“Now they’re going to make some demands and we’re going to do whatever it takes to bring her back safely. Zoey was able to give us some hints during her call, so thanks to your very brilliant daughter we have new leads to pursue.”

“What kind of leads?” Ellie asks.

“I can’t go into those right now.” My eyes beg her to understand. “I just wanted to give you the latest news and see how you were doing.”

“I’ll be better when my sister is home,” Ellie tells me. I kiss her briefly.

“I’m working on it, believe me,” I assure her. “But it will be easier to concentrate on that job if I don’t have to worry about you and the baby. You’ll rest and eat, right?”

“I’m just so scared.”

“I know. We all are. Trust me?”

“I do trust you. You’ll bring her back safely.” She speaks with such authority that a lump forms in my throat, making it difficult to speak.

“And you’ll eat and rest as much as you can?” I ask again.

“We’ll take good care of Ellie, Mike,” Abbey promises. “You take care of Zoey.”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

TBC


	6. Repercussions

“Hey.”

I look up from my secret spot and see a face that I don’t see nearly enough of. Okay, it’s not that secret. I’m currently hanging out in the Map Room. It’s strange seeing this place with such a decreased level of activity. For the moment, everything that’s not completely essential is halted. But Toby’s here writing and so Ginger’s here, too.

“Hey,” I smile back at her.

“You’re still here?”

“Yeah. I’m trying to fly under the radar, so to speak.”

“Trying not to give them a reason to kick you out?” she smirks, sitting down with me at the table I’m currently parked at.

“Yeah.”

“Does the Vice President need you or something?” 

“Um, no. Well, I don’t really know. I’m a little concerned about Josh.” I give her a long look until I see the recognition in her eyes. Josh’s PTSD is not common knowledge around here, but since Ginger and I were together for so long, she knows about it.

“Is he all right?” she whispers.

“He says he is,” I reply with a shrug. “But he also asked me to try and stick around, so… I mean, Donna and Matt can’t get into the building and Mike’s pretty busy, so I guess he’s just stuck with me.”

“He’s not stuck with you; you’re a good friend.” 

“I don’t know if I have been lately,” I say softly. I’m desperate to talk to her again. She understands me. I used to be able to talk to her about anything. She’d listen to me prattle on about anything. 

“Don’t you guys always say that politics isn’t personal? You’re here aren’t you?” 

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes lately,” I find myself saying and I don’t miss her quick intake of breath and how she’s started to look both wary and hopeful at the same time. God, did I put this stricken look on her face? Did I make her afraid to hope? 

“You haven’t done anything unforgivable.” 

“Haven’t I?” I smile ruefully. “I felt like they don’t ever listen to me.”

“They do.”

“Personally, sure; but professionally? It’s like I have to scream to get them to hear anything I say, to remind them that I can make an important contribution too. I got tunnel-visioned trying to show them that I’m an asset; that there are people, important people, that will listen to what I have to say and treat my words as valuable advice; in trying to make all this *real* for me. I sold my soul to the Devil, Ginger.”

She smiles lightly and places a gentle hand on my cheek. “No, you didn’t; not yet.”

“You shouldn’t even be talking to me after what I…” I break off and pull back. Her hand falls away. “…after the way I…”

“You might have some groveling to do there.”

“Really?” That didn’t sound so bad; I can grovel.

“Actually, some might be an understatement. You have a lot of groveling to do there.”

“I’m a member of Congress, Ginger, I can grovel with the best of them.” 

“I have no doubt that you can, but I also don’t believe you’re free to grovel.”

“I am,” I nod quickly. “Well, not technically yet, but I will be just as soon as I can. Maybe not until all this is over, but if there’s any chance at all of getting you back…”

She looks down and wipes at her eyes. I can’t believe how much I’ve hurt her. If I never disappoint her again, it won’t make up for what I did. Of course, I’m probably too late. I really can’t expect that she sat around waiting for me to take my head out of my ass. But what I want so much right now is for her to be happy, so if I have to walk away to do it, I guess I can muster the strength from somewhere.

She looks back up at me and gives me a look that seems almost playful. “Even if it’s public groveling?”

“If it’s public groveling, can I at least do it in my district?”

“Politicians,” She mutters standing up, but she smiles down at me before leaving the room. She walks right past Josh, who’s leaning in the doorway.

“It’s not you so much that’s been the crappy friend,” he says by way of greeting walking in.

I scoff a bit and he sits down in Ginger’s chair. “Well, this I’ve *got* to hear.” 

“You were there every step of the way after the shooting, when I was recovering, when I met Donna, when I didn’t know what was going on and it seemed like everything was falling down around me. None of you bailed and you were ready to put yourself on the line for me. Then when *you* were going through something *I* didn’t understand, I didn’t show you the same courtesy. It’s me that was the crappy friend and I’m sorry about that.” 

Well, then. I certainly wasn’t expecting that.

“Well, as much as I’d like to just go ahead and blame you, well and Matt, I do think I’ve got a chunk of the blame myself.” He blows out a long breath, leans his elbows on his knees and looks down. “Do you know anything new?” 

“We’ve got demands.”

“Money and guns?” 

“Lots of money and lots of guns,” he confirms. 

“And it’s West Virginia White Pride?” 

“We don’t know that for sure, but they’re pursuing that lead. The President says there’s a round on him when it’s over.” 

“He won’t think that when he gets to the Second Act of the Congressman Wick Show,” I say dryly.

“Maybe not.” 

“He can’t step down.”

“I know,” he says. “I just don’t know how to stop him if it comes to that.” 

“You’ll figure out something,” I smile. “You always do.”

“Stop, you’re making me blush,” he smirks and stands back up. “You forget, I usually always have help.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My brief stint at home did little to lift the heaviness that’s been surrounding me. It served its purpose at the time, to see for myself that my family was safe and well, to touch them for myself. I can’t imagine the sheer terror the President and First Lady are feeling right now. To have one of my children out there somewhere, not knowing where they are, how they are, if I’ll ever see them again, if they’re hurt, if they’re scared, if they’re crying, it’s a wonder, quite frankly that the President and First Lady can even breathe right now.

The mess is deserted. It usually is at 3 a.m. Of course, ever since Mike’s wedding I get freaked out by going down here late and alone. Who knows where I’ll get stuck next?

I hear some noise in the back and know I’m not alone.

“Hello?” I call back and head back to the refrigerators. 

I’m a little surprised when I see Liz Bartlet emerge. I didn’t think they were leaving the residence. 

“Hey,” she says. “I thought I’d be safe wandering around at this hour.” 

“You’re pretty safe in this building.”

“I mean, I didn’t think I’d run into anyone.” 

“Well, I’m not a reporter, so you’re safe from being bugged too much,” I say. She cringes a bit and I try to think of something to change the subject. I smirk when I see my opportunity. “Of course, that is unless you’ve finished the beer.” I gesture at the bottle in her hand and she smiles down at it.

“Is it actually possible to finish *anything* in this building?” she smiles.

“Legislation goes unfinished all the time,” I shrug.

She laughs, but not surprisingly, it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “He’s talking about stepping aside, Josh.” She says quietly as she slides a beer across the counter to me.

“He absolutely can’t, Liz,” I reply firmly.

“His mind is a little preoccupied. He’s making decisions as a father. Surely you can understand the kind of position he’s in right now.”

“I do and I appreciate that, I swear I do,” I say earnestly. “But John Hoynes has been having an affair and leaking classified information to his mistress who is now writing a tell all book. Counsel’s office is investigating right now. He’s going to have to resign as soon as they have the proof. Once he does, there will be no Vice President.”

“There’s a line of succession,” she says rolling her eyes.

“President Walken?” I reply. 

She holds my gaze for a long moment as the power of my words sink in. “My sister’s kidnapping shouldn’t be political.”

“It shouldn’t be, but it is. It’s why she was kidnapped. No one would ever let your father do something drastic, but elevating the Speaker of the House will have a ripple effect that it might take years to recover from. He can legislate; he can appoint a new Vice President. He can undo everything your father has worked for.”

“How are we going to avoid it?” 

I startle slightly at her use of the word ‘we.’ Liz, while not quite as spotlight shy as Ellie, has been the second most low key Bartlet daughter since she has kids and isn’t as available as Zoey.

“Figure out a way to stall.”

“Without it looking like a screwball comedy?” 

“No, I’m sure it’s going to look like a screwball comedy,” I chuckle.

“Well, move over Laurel and Hardy; here comes Bartlet and Lyman.”

TBC


	7. Repercussions

“Agent Jeffers, President Bartlet,” I introduce them.

“I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances, Mr. President.” Jeffers takes the hand that’s stretched out to him.

“I’m sorry to pull you out of your undercover operation so abruptly, Agent Jeffers, but as you can imagine, we’re desperate for any kind of clue you can give us as to the operation of West Virginia White Pride,” the President replies, as he motions for everyone to sit; it’s me, my Director, Ron Butterfield, the President and Tom Jeffers, the star of the show.

“What can you tell us, Tom?” I ask quietly.

“The talk is all about money,” Tom replies. “They’re going broke. The strangle hold various county attorneys have been able to put on their finances have backed them into a felonious corner. They’ve been reduced to stealing and distributing goods as well as drugs.”

“And these people aren’t in prison because…” The President asks.

“They’re the little fish, sir. We’re after the big fish,” Tom Jeffers explains.

“Fish so big they might get it into their head to abduct the President’s daughter and kill a US Secret Service Agent,” I add.

“Then we can pull them in now?” the President prodded. “Question them?”

“We could, but it’s unlikely we’d get actionable information in the time period we’re looking at,” Ron responds this time. “We’re going to get all the information we can from Agent Jeffers and try to work it that way. We’re going to want to start with any new property the group or its leaders have acquired in the last six months.” 

Tom starts pulling up data on his laptop and going through the information he has and the rumors he has heard. It looks like this will be another long night…for all of us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bartlet and Lyman?” He repeats.

“You’re damn right,” I reply.

“First of all, why do you get top billing? And secondly, since when are you a Bartlet? What happened to Westin?”

“I get top billing because it’s my father in the Oval office and it’s been Bartlet-Westin but it won’t be for much longer. I’m ditching him. If he thinks he can bang the nanny and then come back to me…”

“Jeez Liz! Cut that out! I don’t want to know that kind of stuff. I certainly don’t want to discuss it with YOU. I can get Donna on the phone, but leave me out of it,” he begs. Men are so squeamish.

“You asked,” I point out while I smile innocently at him. “If I’ve learned anything through this tortuous experience it’s that life is too short to spend it being so unhappy. Doug’s days are numbered.”

“Ah-kay,” he sighs. “Right now we need to concentrate on how to keep him from invoking the 25th.”

“Where do we start?”

“You need to reassure him that he’s making good solid decisions as the President while I stall constitutionally.”

“How do you stall constitutionally?” I ask skeptically.

“I have no idea, but you and I are about to find out,” he tells me. Josh Lyman is a brilliant, if annoying, strategist. He’ll come up with something. Just then Charlie approaches us.

“The President wants you, Josh,” he reports.

“Here we go…” he mutters to me. “Sound, objective decisions,” he repeats to me and I nod. Once he’s gone I notice Charlie. The man is clearly distraught. 

“Sit down, Charlie. Take a load off,” I suggest.

“I should be upstairs in case there’s word,” he objects. I lift my pager so he can see it. 

“I guarantee I’ll get a page if we learn anything new. Sit down. You look awful.”

“Gee, thanks,” he replies but takes a seat next to me. 

“Does she know you’re still in love with her?” I ask and he lowers his eyes. “She still loves you too, you know.” 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Liz.”

“I know that love is rare and precious and you shouldn’t waste your time denying you feel it. When she comes back, you need to tell her,” I advise him and I can see he’s at least considering it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mr. President, you asked for me?” I say through the partially open door of the Oval. He waves me in and motions for me to close the door behind me. I know what he’s going to say before the words come out of his mouth.

“I need you to prepare whatever needs to be prepared in order for me to step down until this is all over.”

“I can begin the process of invoking the 25th but there are some constitutional issues that I’ll need to be briefed on. I’ve got a call into the Attorney General.”

“It has to be fast, son. They’ve made demands now.”

“I understand sir, but we can’t substitute fast for correct or there’s going to be hell to pay later. If there’s any question at any time about who is in charge throughout this…event…we’ll be in the middle of a constitutional crisis, Mr. President,” I explain.

He heaves a great sigh. “Josh…you know now what it is to be father. Can you tell me you could make any kind of rational decisions if it were Noah…or Brianna?”

“No, sir,” I shake my head sadly, getting shivers at just the thought. “But I’m not the President.”

“And the 25th will ensure someone else will be until this event is over.”

“Sir, I’m begging you. Let me take this through channels. Mike and his team have solid leads now. This may be over before we can even draw up the papers.”

“From your lips to God’s ears, son, The President mutters. “Okay, take it through the Attorney General’s office, but I want it done right away…and get John in here.”

“He’s being briefed at another location, sir,” lie unabashedly…well, Hoynes IS at another location.

“Make sure he’s kept up to speed in case I…well, just in case,” he finishes lamely.

“I’ll make sure everything is in order, Mr. President,” I promise avoiding the promise to update the Vice President.

“Thank you, Josh,” He nods again. “How was your down time at home?”

“Precious, Mr. President; positively precious.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Have some chicken, Ellie. We promised Mike you would eat.”

“I can’t, Mom.” I shake my head. “I feel sick.”

“Okay, then some saltines and sprite,” Mom decides and finds the appropriate foods.

“I don’t think it’s morning sickness at this hour, Mom.”

“’Morning sickness’ is a misnomer. It can hit you anytime,” Mom insists.

“Like when your sister is abducted?” I snap and see my mother’s face pale. “I’m sorry, Mom; really. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she tells me and rubs my cheek with her palm. “We’re all on edge and pregnancy really puts you over it. I’m so happy for you and Mike, Ellie.” Mom’s tears seem to belie her words to me.

“Mike’s going to bring her home, Mom. Nobody is better than Mike and he won’t rest until Zoey is back here safe with us again, I know it.” Now I’m crying too. “Believe me.”

“I’m trying Ellie, I’m trying. It’s just that…she’s MY baby.” The sobbing should have scared anyone off, but instead, Liz joins us.

“You two sound like you’re having quite the party over here. You didn’t even think to invite me?” She teases and gets a watery laugh from me.

“We’re just sharing the joys of pregnancy,” Mom shares. 

“I remember it well,” Liz nods. “The next few months will be so much fun; nausea, bloated legs and feet, peeing every 10 minutes…”

“Stop, you’re making me all excited,” I deadpan.

“Excited about what?” Dad asks as he too joins us.

“The joys of pregnancy,” I tell him and hold out a hand to bring him into our family circle; the circle missing one important piece. 

“At least here we can quench any cravings you might have.” Dad kisses my head and sighs. “Nothing new to report. Things are going ‘through channels’.”

“That’s how it should be Dad,” Liz responds. “You’re doing exactly what you should be doing. Mike and Ron will bring Zoey back to us.”

“I pray you’re right, Liz. Dear God, I pray you’re right.” Dad pulls us all closer to him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Can you tell me anything?” I ask. The kids are sleeping and I’m desperate for some news. I mean actual news not the repetitious bullshit they’re playing on all the cable news networks. I have all the TV’s on in the house; each one set to a different station but all they can do is show stock footage of Zoey over and over.

“Nothing new,” Josh tells me. “I’ve got to go. I have to meet with the Attorney General and come up with a game plan to keep the President of the United States from invoking the 25th amendment and putting John Hoynes in charge of the country.”

“Well…don’t you have a nice lazy day there?” I drawl. “Good luck, Joshua,” I say sincerely. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he tells me before he hangs up.

“Any word?” Matt asks me. We’ve been hanging out together this afternoon. He figures when any word comes down I’ll get it pretty damn quick.

“Nothing new,” I sigh. “I feel so helpless.”

“Donna, the President of the United States feels helpless,” Matt reminds me.

“I guess. I just keep imagining if it were one of my children…and then I have to go upstairs and check on them.” I admit. Matt puts an arm around me. 

“Being a parent is a constant lesson in helplessness, I imagine, but President Bartlet has the best trained operatives in the world searching for Zoey. They’re going to find her. And your children are safe and sound upstairs where they will remain.”

“You’re a good guy, Matt. We need more good guys like you in office,” I tell him quietly and rest my head on his shoulder.

“Thanks, Donna.”

“But mostly, you’re a good friend. I’m very lucky I ended up in your office that day so long ago.”

“Ever wonder what might have happened if Ainsley hadn’t sent you my way?” He asks curiously.

“I can’t even begin to imagine.” I shake my head and hug Matt.

TBC


	8. Repercussions

“If we raid and our timing isn’t absolutely perfect, they’ll kill her!” 

“Agent Casper,” the Director says to me. “They’re going to kill her anyway. This is a group that tried to kill Charlie Young just for dating her. They didn’t succeed and she still dated him. She’s probably dead already.”

“No,” I insist. “I refuse to believe that.”

“Because you’re in this too deep,” the Director counters. 

“I’ve been completely objective.”

“Is that what you call it?”

“Gentlemen!” Leo barks. “Agent Wilson, the President made his feelings on this very clear. Let’s not turn this into some kind of ridiculous pissing match. Agent Casper has been briefing the White House for years. The President values his opinion.”

“And normally so do I…” the Director begins.

“I would appreciate it, Agent Wilson…” Leo says leaning forward and lowering his voice to a menacing growl. “…if you wouldn’t engage me in a debate in front of the kids.” Leo sweeps his hand along the large table at the occupants of the Situation Room, who are mostly shifting in their seats, well, except for Nancy McNally and Chairman Fitzwallace. They look like they’re enjoying themselves immensely. 

“Let’s go over the list of demands,” Leo says.

“Which are absolutely ridiculous,” the Director says, like we don’t know. “Who exactly do they think they’re going to fight?”

“I would imagine, *sir*, us,” I say dryly.

The doors open and everyone jumps to their feet as the President enters and takes his seat at the head of the table. He immediately sits down and looks at the brief in front of him. “Are they kidding me with this?” He asks.

“No, sir,” I say.

“Okay. Well, $10 million isn’t that surprising, but the weapons…M2 Browning machine guns?”

“The other factions of the group are going to want to be well armed,” I explain.

“What about the ones that have got her?” he asks me.

“Well sir, they don’t expect to be alive that much longer,” I say bluntly.

“You have a plan to raid their strongholds.”

“Yes, sir.” I say. “That’s what we were debating right before you came in.”

“Why is there a debate?” he asks me. “They know we’ll be coming for them.”

“Sir, I’m concerned that if the timing isn’t perfect that they’ll kill her.”

He straightens in his chair a bit and looks at me for a long moment. This is why he wanted me in here, to tell him the things he doesn’t want to hear.

“Then we best make sure our timing is perfect, shouldn’t we, Agent Casper?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Leo…” the President says and Leo in turn begins to run through the plan.

It’s a good plan, with good people to execute it. But the repercussions of it…I think of Ellie upstairs, hopefully sleeping soundly right now, but knowing she’s probably not. If this goes wrong, *I’m* the one that’s going to have to deliver the news to her. *I’m* the one that’s going to have to break her good heart and have the image of her devastated face burned in my mind. Me; not the Director. 

“Sir,” I say quietly so only the President and Leo hear. He looks up at me from the report in front of him. “Do you mind, sir…do you mind if I excuse myself for a little while?”

He arches a brow at me. He and Leo look at little surprised by my request, but despite the President’s earlier request of me, I can’t *always* be heartlessly objective in this situation. There are too many moments when it gets to me and I can’t exactly balance the way he’d prefer.

“Absolutely, Mike,” he says quietly. He squeezes my shoulder briefly right before I get up and leave the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Eleanor.”

I look up at the sound of my husband’s hoarse voice. This is it. The news I’ve been terrified of hearing.

“Oh my God,” I say, tears springing to my eyes.

“No!” he says quickly. “No, nothing’s happened.”

“Oh!” I drop my hand to my heart and breathe deeply trying to slow it down. 

“But, I did do something stupid.”

I hold my hand out to him and he joins me on the couch in the Solarium. 

“What’d you do now?” I ask.

“Now!?” He looks affronted.

“Well, it’s not like you’ve never done something stupid before,” I smirk. 

“I just excused myself from the Situation Room. The Director is going to have my ass; Leo’s probably going to have my ass. You don’t walk out on the President and you sure as hell don’t do it in the Situation Room.”

“Mike, it’s hard for everyone.”

“He’s counting on me.”

“So am I,” I say simply. “So is Zoey. But I don’t expect any of this not to affect you and neither does my father.”

“I’m sure that’s true, Ellie, but it’s not supposed to affect me in the Situation Room. That’s why the people that are picked to be in there are in there.”

I hold my arm out for him and he falls against my shoulder. I can see how exhausted he is and I gently ease him down to my lap and stroke his hair gently. 

“I don’t deserve you,” he says softly as he drifts off to sleep. When I’m sure he’s asleep, I ease myself out from underneath him and head downstairs. I don’t stop at the residence though, I keep going; my secret service shadows following at a quiet distance.

When I get down to Leo’s office, he’s in there with the FBI Director. I drift quietly in and hover in the doorway.

“Ellie!” Leo says surprised and stands up; the Director follows his lead.

“Good morning,” I say quietly.

“What are you doing down here? Do you need something?”

“I’m just wandering the halls,” I say. “It seems to set my father’s mind at ease to wander the building when it’s this quiet.”

Leo gestures to the couch in his office and I take him up on the offer. Being pregnant is pretty draining. 

“Something on your mind?”

“Nothing and everything, you know?”

“I do,” He nods.

“Worried about my sister; worried about my husband,” I sigh. “See, he’s the one that’s going to have to break the news to us. I can only imagine the pressure he’s under. I don’t know what I’d feel if I had to be the one to tell him that a close member of his family died. He tries not to let it show, but he’s only human.”

Leo glances over at the Director and back at me. “Yes, everyone is feeling powerless and stressed.”

“True,” I say. “But lucky for the two of you, my father ensured that you weren’t going to have to be that guy. Must be nice.” I sigh dramatically and rise off the couch; the two of them rise with me, Leo’s got a hand at my elbow and a smirk in his eye. I glance at the Director and give him my best ‘Don’t mess with me’ Bartlet glare before looking as innocent as I can sweeping out.

TBC


	9. Repercussions

“Josh, we need to tell the President,” Attorney General Jason Penz tells me again. I’m getting tired of the conversation. I look over at Oliver Babish for back up. He shrugs. Big help that one.

“I’m not going to dump this on him while his daughter is being held for ransom. Oliver’s team is investigating the allegations and as soon as he has what he needs…”

“We’re close, Josh. If what is happening around here wasn’t happening around here, we’d already have issued search warrants.” NOW Babish chimes in. “But we can’t issue search warrants without making a whole lot of noise and you don’t want noise right now.”

“Search warrants for the Vice President of the United States.” Penz shakes his head and reaches for the Advil bottle he’s already opened twice during this visit. “We can’t hold off on this, damn it.”

“That’s exactly what we have to do,” I state again. “We don’t have time for Hoynes to step down and appoint a new Vice President in the middle of all this.”

“Then let Walken take it,” Penz suggests. “It’s the only way.”

“It’s not the only way,” I insist. “President Bartlet is in no way impaired at this time.”

“Josh…”Penz groans.

“He’s not in charge of the investigation or the hostage negotiations; he’s merely being informed of decisions as they’re being made.”

“Merely? Get real, Josh. The man’s daughter is tied up somewhere being…He needs to step aside for Hoynes or Walken.”

“Hoynes is under investigation for leaking classified information. He can NOT be elevated to the Presidency!” I shout.

“Then take him out of the equation!” Penz shouts back. “Take him out of the equation or end this fast because we’re heading for disaster here,” he says in a calmer voice, then gets up and leaves Oliver and me alone.

“Sanctimonious bastard, isn’t he?”

“We should have pushed for Rooker,” I mutter. “What do I do, Oliver?”

Oliver looks pensive. “Stall.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catholic Mass is amazing. The words, the responses, even the movements are prescribed and always the same, yet one Mass can feel completely different than another. A week ago, Mike and I had our Wedding Mass. It was filled with joy and celebration. This Mass, for Zoey, feels like a funeral; somber and depressing. Mike is holed up in the situation room again, doing whatever it is he does to try to bring this to a successful conclusion. 

Dad hasn’t let go of my hand except to accept communion. He must feel so torn as a father and a leader. His daughter’s life hangs in the balance of the decisions he makes. As I kneel beside him in the pew I pray for him to feel some peace; for all of us to feel a little peace and comfort. I feel it wash over me in the mystical way I always have since I was a child attending Mass with my family. In that moment I know the baby I’m carrying is a boy. I just know it. I feel Dad squeeze my hand and I kiss his cheek. We’ve never been as close as he has been with my sisters but we’ve had the ability to speak to each other without words sometimes. This is one of those moments.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where are we with the 25th?” I ask once the door is closed and it’s just Josh and I again.

“The papers have been drawn up, sir. Oliver Babish is reviewing them,” he answers quickly. “There’s no rush, Mr. President. There isn’t any present need to invoke it. Your decision making has been sound and nobody feels that your leadership has been compromised in any way.”

“That’s what Liz keeps telling me.”

“She’s right, sir.”

“Since when have you agreed with Liz?” I ask. “Since when have you even liked Liz?”

“In all fairness, sir, I like Liz just fine. It’s her pinhead husband that I have a problem with.” 

“I know the feeling. Something’s been off there too, but I can only worry about one daughter at a time right now.”

“Yes, sir,” he agrees. “Liz is fine. She’s a very strong, smart woman. All of your daughters are strong, smart, women.” This is Josh’s way of trying to reassure me and I appreciate it, but my shoulders feel physically weak from the load on them.

“Mr. President?” Charlie interrupts us. “A call for you on line one, sir; the Canadian Prime Minister.”

“Thank you, Mr. President.” Josh excuses himself and I reach for the phone. Please God, let this be over soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Josh?” I’ve been waiting for this visit. I’m about to become President of the United States. 

“Mr. Vice President,” he waits until my assistant shuts the door. “We need your help.”

“Anything I can do to help, Josh.”

“I need you to stay far away from the President and the Oval office until this situation with Zoey is resolved.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Stay far away. If the President sees you there he’s going to start to think we’d be better off if you were in charge, and you can’t be in charge…sir.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I demand. Josh Lyman has always had gall, but this…

“I know all about the affair with Baldwin, sir, and the sex isn’t the part of that relationship that’s going to put you in the penalty box. Is it, John?”

Fuck.

“I don’t know what Helen has been saying…”

“We’re going to keep it very quiet, for now,” Josh tells me. “When this is over, and Zoey is safely back home, then you and the President are going to have to have a conversation. Until then, nobody else knows about this. Got it?”

I nod, but this isn’t the end of this discussion. As soon as he leaves, I tell my detail I need to make a trip home.

“John!” Suzanne looks up at me startled. “I wasn’t expecting you home.”

“I need to get some things from the office,” I make up.

“The Secret Service didn’t get what you needed before?”

“When, before?” I ask in alarm.

“I’m not sure exactly. Macey said the Secret Service agents were here earlier when I was gone to get some things from your office. She said they had their ID’s and some sort of written permission so…”

“What kind of written permission?” I demand.

“I have no idea. John? Has something happened? Is Zoey…?”

I shake my head ‘no’ but otherwise ignore her questions and rush to my private office. It takes me only moments to discover everything has been gone through; including my safe. I am so screwed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dad?” He hangs up the phone and looks up at me. “I brought you something to eat.” I place a plate in front of him.

“Thanks, Liz, but I don’t think I could manage to eat anything right now. I just had my latest briefing,” he admits.

“Then it’s even more important that you eat something and keep up your strength,” I tell him. “Just try a couple bites.”

He complies, but it’s forced. 

“After you’re done eating, you need to get a little sleep.”

He gives me a look that says, ‘Sure I will’. 

“I mean it, Dad. Even if you just lie down and close your eyes for awhile. You know Mike and Ron will wake you immediately if there’s any news.”

“Yeah. Have you seen Josh?” Dad asks. “I paged him twice and he’s not answering.”

“He had a meeting at the OEOB,” I explain. “He’s probably just tied up there.”

“Too tied up to respond to the Leader of the Free World?” he scoffs. “He was supposed to have some papers ready for me.”

“I’m sure he’s working on it then,” I assure him. “What kind of papers would you need right now?”

“They’re…contingency papers, that’s all.” He admits.

“You don’t need them, Dad. You’re handling all of this with unbelievable strength and clarity. I’m so very proud of you. You’re going to be the reason my sister comes back to us. You can’t give up that ace in the hole.”

“I may not have a choice, Liz.”

“There’s always a choice, Dad. And you always make good ones. This will be no different,” I assure him and rub his back. Hurry back, Josh. I can’t do this act solo for much longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Breathe. Just breathe. If I concentrate on breathing shallowly and evenly I may not throw up again. My head is still spinning and my stomach is still rolling. I still have the blindfold on so I have no idea where I am or who I am with. I can hear low, angry voices and that ratchets up my fear again, so I go back to concentrating on my breathing. In and out. In and out. My heart feels like its racing. I’m so hungry and scared. I remember Dad warning me about something like this and now it’s real. 

I did everything I was supposed to. I stayed with my detail, I carried my panic button, and still Molly was killed and I’m being held by West Virginia White Pride for who knows what. Dad must be insane. I’m just grateful I got to talk to Mike. Mike will get my clue, I know he will. Mike is the best at what he does. He’ll find me and get me out of here, I know it. 

I can hear bits and pieces of the conversation in the next room. 

“Of course he’s going to hand over the money and the weapons. It’s his ‘baby girl’ for God’s sake. He doesn’t care that she’s sleeping with some black kid. He’s just another liberal egghead who thinks it’s all so great to see beyond race.” One of them chuckles humorlessly. 

“I’m saying we should have stuck with the money. Who knows what kind of weapons they’re going to cough up. They could all be rigged for all we know. With the money, we could buy our own weapons and be sure the gun we put to the kid’s head will blow it clean off as soon as we get what we want.”

Breathe, Zoey. Just breathe.

TBC


	10. Repercussions

“Good evening, Josh.”

“Oliver,” I nod walking into the counsel’s office. “You paged me?”

“It certainly didn’t take you very long to get over here.”

“My office isn’t that far away,” I reply. For crying out loud, I’ve been here going on 17 hours now since I came back from my brief stint home.

“The Secret Service search of the Vice President’s house yielded quite the plunder,” Oliver says dryly. 

“The classified information on the DOJ settlement and Pentagon report?” I ask with dread.

“Oh, and then some,” Oliver laughs without humor. He tosses a file across his desk and I pick it up like it was a ticking bomb…which I’m sure in a sense, it is.

When I open it up, I feel a lump in my throat slide all the way down to my stomach when I see the contents.

“The President’s medical records,” I whisper. “But we disclosed in the hearings that the Vice President knew as early as the convention.”

“Josh, those are Dr. Li’s medical records from the night of the shooting, the ones that were stolen a few years ago prompting the whole disclosure that just about made me change careers,” he notes. “The Vice President was the one that leaked them.”

“How would he have gotten them?” I ask incredulously.

“That’s something John Hoynes is going to have to explain to a Grand Jury.”

I don’t believe it; and yet, I do. I always knew that John Hoynes was calculating enough to get the Presidency…one way or the other, and definitely not with me by his side.

“Josh, I don’t need to talk to you about the political fallout from this if it’s disclosed after the kidnapping is resolved…since the legal fallout is ten times worse. John Hoynes has to resign now and this has to be brought to the President. Today.”

“And if the President invokes the 25th?” I counter. 

“I’m senior counsel to the Office of the President of the United States, Josh, no matter who’s sitting in there. You can keep stalling, but this information has to be turned over to Justice. As you well know, this is the kind of thing that triggers very publicly televised Congressional investigations.”

“I know, I know,” I say with a sigh. “It’s not losing the Vice President, believe it or not. It’s just…I don’t know.” I feel deflated. I feel defeated. I feel disenchanted.

“I know you want to preserve his legacy,” Oliver says, and that’s exactly what it is. “But you don’t want to ruin it at the same time. You promised the American public honesty. I’m sending this to Justice in the morning and I’m taking it to Leo now.”

“All right,” I sigh. Now how do I stall?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re kidding me.” I say to Oliver and Josh, who are standing in my office making one of the crappiest times in my life crappier.

Oliver tosses a large file marked ‘Classified’ onto my desk. “Happy reading.”

“John Hoynes having an affair isn’t going to come as a shock to anyone.”

“No, but the leaking of classified information is,” Oliver says.

“How long have you known about this?” I ask Josh. 

He rubs a hand down his face and blinks his eyes. Poor kid looks like death walking. “I don’t know. Since shortly after we found out about Zoey.”

“Is this why you can’t seem to get the President’s letter up to the Residence?” Leo asked. “I mean it’s what, five sentences long?” 

“Yeah.” 

I briefly thumb through the file before me. Wow. This must have been quite the blow for Josh. Not that Josh is all that naïve when it came to John Hoynes, but it must just be disappointment after disappointment.

And the President…I can’t believe I have to take this to the President.

“Margaret!” It seems like she’s through the door before her name is finished. “Call down to the Situation Room and send up Agent Casper.”

She nods and leaves.

“Isn’t this more the U.S. Attorney’s purview?” I ask.

“I want him up there when I tell the President.” I say gruffly. “I need someone there who’s also downstairs to help me gauge specific reactions, plus Mike was working on the Dr. Li thing.”

“I’ve called the Attorney General,” Oliver says. “We’re meeting at 7:30.” I look at the clock on the wall, eight hours. 

I sit down in my chair and open the file in front of me. Josh starts to pace and Oliver starts to look bored. It’s not long before Mike comes in.

“That was fast,” Josh notes.

“We have a secret elevator,” Mike deadpans.

“Seriously?” Josh asks hiking his eyebrows up. That kid will believe anything if it’s delivered with a straight face by someone he trusts.

“No.” Mike replies like he can’t possibly fathom Josh believing that. I smirk. 

“Listen, Mike, it’s been discovered…wait, how did you even have an inkling of this?” I turn to Josh and Oliver.

“Chris Wick brought it to Ainsley Hayes,” Josh says quietly. Mike’s eyes widen a bit I blow out a breath. Congressman Wick has been Hoynes’ political patsy for quite some time. It’s been a source of tension between him, Congressman Skinner and my Deputy Chief of Staff. This is the stuff prime time dramas are made of. We could call it ‘As the White House Turns’. Maybe this could be the part when my guy goes out in a blaze of glory.

I turn back to Mike. “It has been suspected and substantiated that the Vice President has been leaking classified information, including the President’s medical records, which were stolen from Dr. Li’s house, to a woman named Helen Baldwin who is now writing a tell-all book. Oliver here is going to be meeting with the Attorney General first thing in the morning.”

Mike looks at me for a long moment, over to Josh, over to Oliver, and back to me. His eyebrows pull together and he looks confused.

“I’m sorry, sir,” He says. “Can you repeat that please?” 

I’m sure it’s not that he didn’t understand or is suffering from lack of sleep like the rest of us, but more that he can’t believe that this nightmare can keep getting worse.

“You heard me the first time.” 

“Does the President know?” 

“He’s about to,” I reply. “I want you up there with me.” 

“To be the target!?” he yelps.

“You serve at the pleasure of the President,” I counter with a mischievous grin.

“No, I’m actually employed by the Department of Justice and if you don’t think I’m thinking of other careers right now…”

“Welcome to my world,” Oliver mutters cutting off Mike’s little tirade. 

Mike sighs and looks over at Josh again before looking at me. “How is he even supposed to…I mean how can he absorb something like this right now?” Mike feels the same personal pain for the President we all do. No one wants to have to add to his burden now. Mike’s right: How much more is Jed really expected to take?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Elizabeth, what are we doing out here?” my father sighs deeply.

“It’s the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden,” I say as if that should explain everything.

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“In the daylight, I suppose…oh, and not in the middle of winter.”

“Honestly dad, we’re from New England,” I say dramatically.

“Sweetheart, you remember I have a Nobel Prize and a PhD, right?” he says. Busted.

“Yes, of course.”

“So exactly how long am I supposed to go without noticing you and my Deputy Chief of Staff have fallen into some kind of Three’s Company episode?” 

“Dad…”

“The country comes first, Elizabeth. That’s the difference between a good President and the guy that sat behind the desk for a few years.”

“But you haven’t done anything that anyone would question. You’ve been very professional. Leo would be the very first person to step in if he thought you were making bad decisions,” I say earnestly. “Signing the letter…you just can’t do it, dad, you can’t.”

“I never said I made the decision to sign it,” he points out. “I just want to have it in case I need it.” 

“You might change your mind if you knew who you’d be elevating,” I mumble and look away.

“It’s basic Government 101, sweetie: The President conveys power to the Vice President; if there is no Vice President, he conveys power to the Speaker of the House and they’ve covered like 30 people after that guy. In this particular instance, the Vice President is John Hoynes.”

“Har har,” I reply dryly.

“I think there’s something more you and Josh aren’t telling me.”

“Well, yeah, Dad, actually there is.”

“Well, come to Jesus then, let’s hear it.” 

I take a deep breath, but before I can say anything, Leo, Oliver Babish, Mike and Josh appear over his shoulder. 

“Sir,” Leo says. “There’s something you need to know.

TBC


	11. Repercussions

I’m watching the President’s face carefully. I think he was afraid there was bad news about Zoey. This one, he didn’t see coming. 

“This is why you and my daughter have been stalling me?!” he raises his voice.

“We had to be sure before we brought it to you, Mr. President,” I try to explain. “We didn’t want you to make a move that would elevate John Hoynes when he was under investigation.”

“A fact I’m sure I’m intelligent enough to comprehend,” he’s nearly shouting now.

“No doubt, sir, but I didn’t want to burden you with one more thing unless it couldn’t be helped.” 

He takes that in and calms down a bit. “Where is he now?” he asks with a sigh.

“Hoynes?” Leo clarifies and the President nods. “He’s at his residence, where we’d like him to remain until he tenders his resignation.”

“Resignation?!” The President shouts again. “I want his ass fired! Look where he’s left me! Left his country!”

“Sir, it’s not legally possible to fire the Vice President,” Oliver speaks up bravely. “You can request his resignation, strip him of any responsibilities or duties…”

“I’d start with NASA,” I mention for the hell of it.

“Or he can be brought up on impeachment charges.” Oliver completes the list of options.

“He’ll resign before any of that can happen.” I offer. 

“Which leaves me with Glen Walken if I need to invoke the 25th,” he sighs again.

“Sir, we have a new lead in our investigation. We’ve narrowed the search to three locations that have been newly purchased by the WVWP,” Mike adds. “We’re almost ready to make a simultaneous run on all three locations. It’s just going to be a matter of hours now, I swear.”

“I’d like the room please,” the President requests. “Josh, you and Leo stay.” He waited until the room was cleared of the rest of the group. “What the hell do I do now?” he asks with a resigned sigh.

Leo and I exchange helpless looks with each other. No way am I going first.

“Sir…we hold tight until Mike’s task force can report the results from this raid they have planned. We’ll just take it one step at a time,” Leo suggests.

“One step at a time,” the President scoffs. “That’s not your daughter being held for ransom, Leo!”

“I can’t even begin to imagine, sir,” Leo tries to placate him.

“If it was Mallory? What would you do then?” President Bartlet presses.

“I’d listen to my closest advisors and trust them to help me keep the Government on a clear course.”

“I honestly don’t care if the Government is on course,” he admits quietly. “I don’t care if Walken takes over.”

“That’s why you have to trust us right now, sir,” I offer. “You can only afford to care about Zoey right now, and we all understand that, but believe me when I say that there will be political ramifications in a few hours when she comes home safely to President Walken.”

He looks up at me when I state that. “You really think she’ll be coming home soon? Unharmed?”

“I do, Mr. President, with all my heart.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I trust Mike Casper and Ron Butterfield. They both say it’s just a matter of a few hours now. These pinheads don’t stand a chance against the Secret Service AND the F.B.I.” I state unequivocally.

He nods thoughtfully. “We’ll give it a few more hours, but I’m telling you honestly gentlemen, I don’t know how much more I can take.”

“I understand, Mr. President,” Leo sighs in relief. “We’ll both be in the building if you need us for anything.”

“Thank you, Mr. President.” I say somberly.

“Wait.” The President requests. “I’d like it if you’d stay awhile…talk about sports…the weather…anything but this.”

“Sir, even if you want to talk about all the National Parks, I’m right here,” I smile and sit across from his as Leo takes a seat next to him. It looks like it’s going to be another long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The raised voices have been getting louder and the voices have become more slurred; drinking no doubt. Neither of these facts is good for me, so I’ve been practicing other facts. I did all the multiplication tables for awhile, but now I’ve moved on to naming all the Presidents in order. I just leave off the last name because even thinking it makes me cry and I can’t afford to cry anymore. When I cry I get all sniffly and with the gag in my mouth getting sniffly makes it difficult to breathe.

Asshole number 3 brought me some food an hour ago, but I was afraid that they’d dosed it with something so I refused to eat even though I’m starving. I pray that the guys figured out my clue and that they’re on their way here even now, but part of me doesn’t believe it and I’m afraid these might be my final hours on earth. Shit, here come the tears again…

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson…okay, I’m good again. Phew…

I’ve identified four different assholes holding me here, while other assholes come and go. Suddenly the door is thrown open.

“Get up, we’re moving you,” Asshole number 2 declares.

“We don’t need to do that!” Asshole number 1 shouts back to us. Unsure who to listen to, I stay seated. Moving is not good, ever. I watch Oprah. It’s when they move you to the second location that the really bad stuff happens.

“Jacobs hasn’t been heard from in four hours. Something’s fishy. We’re moving her.”

“Where to? We ain’t got no place ready to move her to. What’re we gonna do? Drive around with her ‘til some local Sheriff pulls us over for a broken tail light? Uh-uh! We’re staying put.”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t trust Jacobs from the start and now he’s gone missing? While we’re holding the President’s daughter?” Asshole number 2 shakes his head in the negative.

“We found him!” comes the voice of Asshole number three. Seconds later he pushes some scruffy looking guy into the room and onto the floor. 

Asshole number two leans over him and looks menacing. “Where the hell you been, boy?”

“Busy.” The guy I’m assuming is Jacobs sneers back. He gets backhanded for his trouble. “Damn it, I was on my own time. I had private business!”

“Ain’t no such thing as private business when we’re doing what we’re doing here,” Asshole number one informs him. “Where. Were. You.”

Asshole number two cocks his handgun and puts it to Jacobs ear. “Start talking.”

“I was with Angie,” he nearly shouts.

“For four hours?!” Asshole number two looks dubious.

“I’m thorough,” Jacobs snarks. “And it took a little while to get her drunk enough to forget about Williams,” he admits sheepishly.

“You’ve been with Angie?” Asshole number one whistles.

“Williams is gonna shoot off your dick,” Asshole number three hoots.

“That’s kind of why I was trying to keep the information to myself, shit head!” Jacobs has guts, but I can’t help thinking his smart aleck answers are going to get him into trouble. When the other three men look at each other, considering whether or not he’s telling the truth, he adds a little info. That’s when I know he’s lying. “Go ahead and ask Angie yourself. She’ll tell you. Just don’t tell Williams, okay?”

The men look around again and then nod. “If we find out you’re lying…” Asshole number two pretends to shoot the gun at Jacobs head.

“I know this business is making everyone a little paranoid, but seriously, I was just with Angie!” Jacobs insists.

“Until Angie verifies that piece of information you stay right here with her,” Asshole number two declares. Jacobs looks aggravated, but stays seated on the floor where he’d been pushed and makes a ‘whatever’ gesture with his arms and shoulders. As soon as the door closes he moves closer to me.

“I can’t risk taking off your gag, right now Zoey. Are you okay?” he asks me and my eyes go wide before I nod ‘yes’. “I’m Agent Jeffers with the F.B.I. I work for Mike Casper. They know you’re here, and they’re on their way. Just hang in there a little longer, okay?”

I nod my head fervently and start to cry. They’re on their way?!

“Don’t cry, Zoey. It’ll all be over soon.” That just makes me cry harder and alarms Jeffers/Jacobs. “Try to think of something else,” he advises.

…Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We split up into three joint task forces, and the Director sent two other very capable Agents to the two other targets, but I requested this one. It looks right, has the right set up and just…feels right, okay? I’m convinced Zoey Bartlet is here. Now we just need to get her out before the guys at the exchange right now discover the weapons are fake and the money is funny. We’re on a tight schedule here.

I motion for the members of my team to fan out. Ron does the same. Yes, Ron has the same ‘feeling’ that I do and that heartens me as well. He’s a fantastic cop, even if he does work for the USSS. Slowly and stealthily we move closer to the compound. We run into a couple ‘sentries’ and with two clean taps to their heads, they’re both down without a sound. I pick up their earpieces just in case they’re asked to report or we can glean some important information. Within seconds, we’re all in position to bust in. We count down from 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…Hang on, Zoey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m getting antsy because they should be here by now. I know my alibi with Angie will hold up for a short while at least because the bureau took her into temporary custody. Why aren’t they crashing in right at this moment? It’s been too long. 

Zoey throws a worried glance my way. I guess I’m not the only one who’s feeling antsy.

“It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. I promise.” I try to assure her and she looks grateful. Poor kid.

“Think about the first thing you’re going to do when you get out of here and concentrate on that.”

The door crashes in then but it’s not the cavalry. It’s the black hats.

“She dies now!” Tyson shouts as he comes in waving his gun.

“What the hell?!” I shout back and move to partially block Zoey without looking obvious about it; Tyson keep his eyes on Zoey.

“Your God Damned father thought it would be amusing to send us fake weapons and money. Obviously, he doesn’t care as much about you as we thought. Should have grabbed one of the older sisters, I guess, huh?”

“Hold on.” Saunders, the more reasonable of the two tries to hold Tyson back. “We kill her we lose our only bargaining chip.”

“Then what do YOU say we do after they played us like that?” Tyson demands.

“We hurt her and let her father hear about it,” Saunders suggests. “Live.” I can see Zoey start to shake. I don’t blame her. “A shot in the shoulder ought to do it.” He opens his cell and makes the call, when I assume they get the President it gets deadly silent in the room.

“She’d like to talk to you too, sir, but she can’t come to the phone right now. You can probably hear her voice though if you listen hard,” Saunders tells him when Tyson raises his weapon. As the shot goes off, I throw myself in front of it. Zoey screams and I can dimly hear the President screaming in the phone. Son of a bitch, this hurts. Where the hell is Casper?

“Freeze! F.B.I!” Mike shouts right on cue. Within seconds, the black hats are either shot or in custody. EMT’s are swarming around Zoey, but as soon as the gag is off she crawls over to me and insists that the EMT’s are working on me first. She’s some class act, Zoey Bartlet. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s Agent Jeffers who got shot. He took the bullet when they were trying to shoot me!” she shouts.

“We’ll take care of both of you,” one of the EMT’s assures her. Mike Casper leans over me.

“Shit. You’re going to have to go on medical leave now, Jeffers,” Mike teases me. “You’re going to be fine. You did a hell of a job here. I’m proud of you.” He says.

“Thanks,” I manage before I hiss in pain at whatever they’re doing to my shoulder. A moment later they give me something for the pain that sends me dreaming and this time the dream does not become the nightmare I’ve been living lately.

TBC


	12. Repercussions

Zoey flings herself frantically into my arms and I hug the shit out of her. “Mike!” she sobs into my shoulder.

“It’s all right; you’re safe,” I coo into her ear and I’m man enough to admit that I’m crying too. “Are you hurt?”

“No, not really,” she says, her voice…make that her entire body is trembling. “Bruised and achy. And I’m starving.” 

“I’m sure the White House chef will make you anything you want,” I chuckle, hugging her tightly again. That’s when I notice she’s burning up. “You feel like you’ve got a fever.”

“I can check her over in the rig,” our medic says.

“No!” she screeches and wraps her arms around me as tight as she can. “I don’t need it. I’ll just wait for my mom.”

“Okay,” I agree quickly. I get a glare from the medic and Ron Butterfield. “She can ride with us, right Ron?” 

“I’d rather she go in the ambulance,” Ron replies. 

Zoey shakes her head frantically and digs her fingers into my jacket. “Ron, she’s a little freaked out here,” I say dropping my voice. “Why can’t the medic ride in the front seat of our car?”

Ron sighs as Zoey buries her head in my shoulder and then he nods his consent. “Thank you,” she whispers to me.

“Seems like a pretty small concession,” I reply, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket and dialing the Residence.

“I mean for everything,” she replies. “I knew you’d be the one to find me.”

“I had a little help in that department.”

“I know. You’re still the best brother-in-law ever.”

“Well, considering my competition…” I grin as Ellie answers the phone.

“Mike! What’s going on?” she asks desperately.

“If you put the phone on speaker, you can all speak with your sister at the same time,” I smile and tears streak down Zoey’s face as I hit the speaker on my cell so we can walk and talk.

“Speaker…” Ellie mutters. “How do you put this…where the hell is the button…how do you work this fucking phone!?” 

There’s some fumbling on the other end and Zoey’s eyes go wide at her usually gentle sister’s language.

“You’re a bad influence.”

“She’s hormonal,” I shrug.

“Don’t have puppies, Ellie,” Liz says on the other end. “Here.”

“Zoey!” It’s the frantic voice of Abbey Bartlet.

“Mom!” Zoey’s voice goes hysterical and I hear nothing but female shrieking, crying and just general incoherency.

I try to spout off details of her current condition in the pauses, but it seems to be fruitless battle, so I just let them cry on the phone as we settle into the back seat of a Suburban. When she can do nothing more but hiccup and she falls asleep on my shoulder, I finally fill in the rest of the First Family on her condition. When I tell Abbey she’s refusing medical care, I hear her order someone to bring in Millicent Griffith and her instructions that they’ll take care of Zoey themselves.

I feel horrible about waking her up when we reach the chopper, but she probably wouldn’t sleep on that anyway. As soon as we’re buckled in, she drops her head onto my shoulder, but doesn’t sleep. Now it’s a short ride to the South Lawn of the White House where her family is waiting impatiently, even the elusive Doug is hanging off on the side. They engulf her before her feet even hit the ground; her parents and her sisters squeezing her tightly. 

After Ellie lets her go, she throws herself at me and sobs into my shoulder. The President squeezes my shoulder, tosses a glance at my brother-in-law and quips, “You’ve officially become my favorite.”

“All in a days work, sir.” I say sheepishly. I feel kind of uncomfortable with the curtain call here. I was just doing my job and it’s not like I did it all by myself, hell, I didn’t even figure out the clue. Abbey smacks me with a big kiss and we all move into the White House together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris and I watch the televisions in my office as CJ appears on screen to announce the safe return of Zoey Bartlet. Thank God half this nightmare is over. When I called Donna, she was pretty much a blubbering mess. I haven’t actually seen Zoey yet. I actually don’t anticipate seeing her for a while. 

I tip my head back and blow out a long breath, looking at the ceiling. I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight. Who knows when I’m going to see it again once this crap with Hoynes gets rolling? I prop my feet up on my desk and Chris does the same from where he’s seated on the side so he can see the TVs. 

“Am I a terrible person for breaking up with my girlfriend over the phone?” he asks.

“Considering this particular girlfriend, I can’t say I’d be all that broken up by it,” I smirk. 

“You know she didn’t sound too upset about it.”

“She’s a robot, she probably wasn’t.”

“I thought the term was fembot.”

“Either way,” I grin, popping open another beer. He takes a long pull off his. “Besides, I’m sure there’s someone around here that will be able to mend your broken heart.” 

“I can’t even believe she’s still talking to me,” he mutters.

“You’re worth talking to,” I say and punch him lightly in the shoulder. Mike appears in the doorway looking like he got dropped from a plane. He picks the last beer up from my desk, pops it open and chugs most of it down. With an ungentlemanly belch, he sits down in the other chair, likewise propping his feet up on my desk.

“Well, I’ll second that,” Chris quips.

“Well done, Secret Agent Man,” I smile.

“I’m officially the favorite son-in-law,” he replies, drawn in by CJ fielding questions.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in there?” Chris asks.

“I gave it to that guy,” Mike replies, pointing to a man on the corner of the TV screen.

“How’d she look?” I ask quietly with a sidelong glance at him.

“Scared shitless,” he replies. “But she’s all right, bruised up a bit and probably more than a little fucked up in the head over it, but she’s a tough kid, I think she’ll pull through just fine.”

“Well, she’s got a lot of people to take care of her,” Chris says.

“Ellie was saying the First Lady will probably bring her up to the farm for a little while; keep her out of the spotlight.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” I reply. “She’s not going to be able to move around this building without people bugging her.”

“I’ll probably go up for a few days myself.”

“Is the *entire* family going?” I non-ask the question.

“I’m not sure,” he says taking another long sip of his beer. On the one hand, I think the country would expect that of the President; on the other, I’m not so sure he should be out of the White House when the Vice President resigns.

Will the fires *ever* be put out?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Donna, I’m fine,” he sighs for the tenth time as I practically cluck over him now that he’s finally home.

“You don’t LOOK fine, Joshua,” I counter. “You look dead on your feet.” FINALLY, something I can actually DO.

“Well, I am dead on my feet, baby, but there’s nothing wrong with me that a few hours in bed won’t take care of.”

I arch my brow at him.

“Okay, I really meant a few hours sleeping. I didn’t mean to sound like now that the man is home, he’s looking for his woman and all that other stuff…”

“Josh,” I say with a laugh. “You really are too tired; I know what you meant.” 

He leans over where we’re sitting on the bed and allows himself to fall against me. I can feel the lack of strength he has now. It’s amazing what copious amounts of energy will do for your endurance levels. Of course, when Josh crashes after episodes like this at work, it’s usually pretty hard.

“Listen Donna, I HAVE to go into work tomorrow,” he murmurs into my chest.

“Not likely, Josh,” I scoff immediately. What is he nuts? He’s been there basically non-stop since all this started. He’s finally home after days of eating like crap and not sleeping, with stress levels so high I have to chip them off the ceiling and he thinks he’s going right back? Who does he think he’s talking to here?

He lifts his head up and looks me right in the eye. All traces of humor are completely gone. “I HAVE to go back tomorrow, Donna. I absolutely CAN’T take the day off.”

God, NOW what’s going on?

TBC


	13. Repercussions

I take a shower and drop into bed with my wife. Soon, the twins will be up and there will be no peace in the house then. I slowly and methodically explain what’s going on with Hoynes. I’m interested to see there’s no surprise on her face when I give her the news, just sad resignation.

“You don’t seem shocked.” 

“I’m not,” she agrees.

“Why not? I mean, not about the affair part, but about the leaking classified information part.” 

“If a man isn’t faithful to the vows he made to his wife, why would he be faithful to the vows he made to his country?” Donna asks pointedly. “I’m so grateful that I’ve never had to worry about that in our marriage.” She kisses me tenderly. “We’ll help the President get through this. Get some sleep.”

She leaves me in our quiet bedroom feeling pretty thankful myself.

What feels like hours later, my son uses my stomach for trampoline practice. He’s pretty good. Brianna is pulling on my arm. 

“Donna, I’m being attacked,” I whine before springing into action and tickling the kids in an all out wrestling match. When I look up I see Donna watching us from her spot leaning on the doorjamb, tears in her eyes.

“Do you suppose the Bartlet family is all huddled together too?” she asks above the din. I just nod.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mom, stop hovering,” I whine.

“Not in this lifetime, baby,” Mom responds and feels my forehead again. Some of the cuts on my wrists got infected and I’m on antibiotics. 

“Dad, can you get her to stop?” I turn my best pout on him.

“I’m only the President of the United States, Zoey, I don’t have that kind of power,” he tells me and runs his hand through my hair…again. I don’t tell him to stop though because it feels so good; like love.

“Keep the ice on your shoulder,” Mom directs.

“Is there any word on Agent Jeffers?” I ask and see them exchange a look.

“The surgery is taking a little longer than they anticipated, but everyone agrees he’ll be fine,” Mom answers.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask just as Ellie comes in.

“I brought ice cream and potato chips.” She places them in front of me in a ‘ta da!’ type motion. “What? They’re your favorite snacks.”

“Not together!” I burst out laughing. “Oh, Ellie, thanks! It’s so good to be with you! Where’s Liz?”

“She’s upstairs settling the kids in,” Dad reports. “They’re going to join you in Manchester for a week or so.”

I groan. “Doug too?”

“Good question,” Ellie mutters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where are the kids?” Doug asks when he joins me in our room.

“In bed, it’s nearly midnight,” I reply shortly.

“I just had to make a few calls,” Doug explains.

“A few calls or a few interviews?” I ask. “I heard you on the phone with the Herald.”

“We’re a very influential family, Liz. People want to know what’s happening with us; with Zoey. Is she really going to Manchester?”

“Yes, along with Mom, me, and the kids.”

“I could clear things for a few days and join you too.”

“No, you’re going to be way too busy,” I inform him.

“Busy? With what?”

“Firing the nanny and packing your things. I expect you to be moved out by the time the kids and I get home in one week.”

“Liz, wait.”

“I did wait, Doug. I’ve waited and waited for you to grow up and be a father to our kids, a faithful husband to me. Seeing Zoey go through all this reminded me that she’s not the only strong Bartlet daughter.” I grab my overnight bag. I’m sleeping in Ellie’s room tonight. “You’ll be hearing from my attorney shortly,” I share as I slam the door behind me. God, that felt good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“If it isn’t the hero of the day,” I call out when I see him cross the lobby.

“I think you’re confusing me with Mike Casper or Agent Jeffers,” he replies, blushing slightly.

“No, no. I got it straight from Mike Casper himself. YOU figured out the clue Zoey used to tell you who was holding her. You’ve got to be feeling pretty good tonight!” 

“Ginger, the President of the United States just finished personally thanking me for my part in rescuing his daughter from the West Virginia White Pride, and I assure you that the highlight of my day is seeing you right now.”

I do an imitation of a fish while I try to figure out how to respond to that. “I…uh…that’s quite a compliment.”

“I mean it. Unfortunately I’m way too tired to do anything about it right now.” He lifts my hand to his lips. “Will you take a rain check?” he asks and I nod. “Good…oh, and you should know I told Amy Gardner that she and I are done. For good. Have a great day!” he calls out as he leaves the building. I think he just ensured that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You asked to see me, Mr. President?” I ask from the door to the Oval office.

“Yes, come in John,” he motions me forward and I close the door behind me.

“Let me say how very relieved we all are that Zoey is home safe.” 

“Thank you. You need to resign and you need to do it now,” he cuts to the chase.

“I’m not going to resign until I have some assurances,” I stand my ground. I’ve given this a lot of thought. There’s a knock at the door and Jed calls for whoever it is to come in. It’s Josh…fantastic!

“Good morning, Mr. President. John. How is Zoey this morning, sir?”

“She’s doing much better, thanks. The caravan leaves for Manchester in about an hour and I want to get upstairs to say good bye to them all before they go. So we need to get this settled quickly. John says he won’t resign until he’s given some assurances. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that those assurances will come in the form of some kind of pardon,” the President sums up.

“No way in hell,” Josh responds. “John is going to write out his resignation right now and place it on your desk, sir, or he’ll be leaving here in Federal handcuffs. Leaking classified information is a Federal crime.”

“I made a mistake…” I begin.

“You think?!” Josh explodes. “You put everyone in this building in jeopardy with your reckless behavior. Do everyone a favor and resign. We’ll see what kind of a deal a Federal prosecutor will be willing to cut you if you cooperate.” 

“If it were within my power to fire you, John, you’d have been fired by now,” the President chimes in. “You know Josh well enough to know he’s an astute political operative. I’d do what he’s recommending if I were you.”

“Here’s a paper and a pen,” Josh moves them toward me on the desk. I have more cards to play, but I can’t play them here. If I’m going down, so is Jed Bartlet. I pick up the pen and write the requisite words on the paper before shoving it back toward Josh.

“Oh, and your office is a crime scene, so you won’t be allowed back in there. Your personal items will be delivered to you. You have two weeks to move out of the Naval Observatory.” Josh has all kinds of good news.

“If you’ll excuse me, Mr. President?” I ask fuming. He nods and I leave without another word. I won’t waste my breath on these two. There are others who will love to talk to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask my oldest child.

She gives me a sardonic look. She’s really Jed’s child.

“Okay, are you sure you want to do this NOW?” I change the question.

“Absolutely. Look, I know how you and Dad feel about divorce…”

“Liz, stop,” I hold up my hand to stop her monologue. “We know that there’s been…trouble for awhile and that you’ve tried to work things out. You do what you need to do and know that your father and I are behind you through it all.”

“But the church…” Liz objects.

“We’ve had a pretty important lesson in the last few days, don’t you think?” I ask. “First and foremost, I want my children safe and happy. Don’t worry about anything else.” I hug her.

“Thanks, Mom.” Liz wipes her eyes. 

“We need more ice cream,” Ellie announces as she and Mike come through the kitchen door.

“Zoey wants MORE ice cream?” I question.

“No. *I* do,” Ellie frowns. “What’s wrong Lizzie?”

“I…” Liz throws an anxious look at Mike.

“I’ll just excuse myself.” Mike offers.

“No, please don’t. You’re part of the family now,” Liz points out. “Which is more than I can say for Doug. I’ve asked him to move out…well, demanded actually. I’ve already called an attorney. I’m getting a divorce.”

“Oh, Liz,” Ellie starts bawling and wraps her arms around her sister. I think it’s fair to say that Ellie’s hormones are slightly out of whack. “I’m sad for you and happy for you all at once. How can that be?”

“I think it’s called ‘pregnancy’,” I reply. “Liz is going to be just fine. All my daughters are smart and strong, right Michael?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he nods solemnly and takes Ellie’s hand in his to pull her back to his arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This means desk duty, doesn’t it?” I ask the Director.

“Getting shot and having surgery? Yes, I’m pretty sure it means TEMPORARY desk duty, Nate.” He rolls his eyes at me. It’s bad enough that the guys are all going to give me shit for getting shot, but desk duty…

“I’m actually here on another matter.” 

“What’s that?” I ask dreading his answer.

“You have a visitor. In fact he should be here by now.” The Director opens the door to peer outside into the hallway. “Ah, here he is now.” Two Secret Service agents come in and survey the room only seconds before the President of the United States enters my hospital room. I struggle to sit up a bit but the pain stops me cold.

“Please, don’t move,” the President orders. “Your boss told me you were getting bored and you might appreciate a visit.”

“Thank you, sir. It’s very kind of you to take the time,” I manage.

“You put your life in danger, not only in your undercover assignment, but intentionally when you took a bullet meant for my daughter. I think that warrants at least a ‘thank you’ visit, don’t you?” He teases…I think.

“That’s simply my job, sir.”

“Perhaps, but it was a job very well done.”

“Thank you, Mr. President, but it was a team effort.”

“I appreciate that, but I still want you to know how much I appreciate YOUR part of the team effort. Zoey is in Manchester right now, but once she gets back, I’m sure you’ll be seeing her as well. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve got the good drugs right now, sir. Everything is a dull throb.”

“I remember the feeling,” he tells me wryly. “Do what the doctors tell you and you’ll be back on your feet in short order. Agent Jeffers, you have my sincere thanks for all your work.” He offers his hand and I barely manage the handshake. “You rest now.”

“I will, Mr. President.” He and his entourage leave as quickly as they came. Wait ‘til I tell Dad about this.

TBC


	14. Repercussions

“Sir…” I say as I’m allowed entry into the Oval Office and I close the door lightly behind me. The President is sitting in his chair and Leo is on the couch. “It’s time for that conversation we talked about a while back.”

“It’s too early,” he waves me off. I knew he’d be…difficult…when the time came.

“Not for this particular candidate, sir,” I reply.

“Candidate?” Leo asks sharply. I see the President did not share this particular plan of mine with Leo. I am both honored that he kept my confidence and scared shitless. I think the President wanted to witness my discomfort in this situation. Sometimes I think watching me squirm is the highlight of his day.

“Josh is leaving us, Leo,” the President fesses up and Leo shoots me a glare.

“And what is he leaving us to do?” Theoretically the question was directed to the President, but being under the intense and intimidating scrutiny I am at the moment, it’s quite obviously me that’s supposed to answer.

“Run Matt Skinner’s campaign.”

“You’re leaving *The White House* to run a Congressional campaign?” Leo says. He obviously doesn’t buy that.

“Nope,” the President replies and pops the P for emphasis. He just loves when he knows more than Leo does and can rub it in.

“What is the good Congressman running for?” Leo is obviously not as entertained right now as the President.

“My job,” The President gleefully answers.

“That’s why he changed parties,” Leo concludes and I nod. “Now how didn’t I see this one coming?” 

“He’s been thinking about it for a while now,” I admit.

“And you’re not going to see us through the Vice Presidential confirmation? Hoynes’ resignation was just announced this morning. You realize it’s going to look like you’re following him. You have close ties to the former Vice President.”

“*Had* close ties,” I correct with a slight growl. I have to confess I didn’t really think of that particular angle. But on the other hand, my Presidential candidate is gay, so I really kind of think I’ve got bigger problems than that.

“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to,” Leo replies. “But then again, you’re running a gay candidate, so I’m assuming you have quite the plan.”

“The beginnings of one,” I say vaguely.

“That’s what you told me at the VFW in Nashua.”

“Worked back then.” 

“You know the President has to support the nominee,” Leo continues. “He can’t look like he’s favoring anyone in the primaries.”

“I won’t need to,” The President replies. “I’m sure Ellie and Mike’s sheer proximity to Matt Skinner will take care of that.”

“Sir, let me be very clear here,” I say. “I have no intention of asking Ellie for any kind of appearance or statement or…”

“Have you met *any* of the females in my family, Josh? What makes you think you’ll have any sort of control over that?” 

I smirk and look down at the carpet. He’s right. I have no plans to ask that of Ellie, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop her if she’s determined enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wrong sister,” I greet as I open the door and find Mike and Liz on the other side.

“Ellie’s asleep,” he shrugs and hooks a thumb over his shoulder at his sister in law. “This one insisted on coming along.”

“It’s been ages since I went out as a single lady,” she tosses back.

“*Single* lady?” I squeak.

“Like you didn’t expect that to be coming?” she arches a brow at me.

“Well…no.”

“Everybody knows he was having an affair, several more than likely.”

“Yes, but I didn’t…well, it doesn’t matter. Good for you, Liz,” I say. Really, it’s not like it’s going to hurt re-election or anything. It’s just a matter of keeping the press away from her.

“So, what kind of party is this?” Liz looks around mine and Donna’s living room at the attendees. The usual suspects of: Matt, Scott, Chris, now Ginger again, Donna, my mom, Piper, our kids and now Mike and Liz. “Is this a celebration of my sister’s return, the Vice President’s resignation, my divorce, Mike’s impending fatherhood or what?”

“They all seem like good reasons to drink to me,” Scott says dryly tossing back his Scotch. He’s not as thrilled as some of us about this particular gathering.

“Actually…” Matt says. “It’s something of an unofficial campaign kick off.” 

“Campaign kickoff?” Liz asks. “Who’s?”

“Matt’s,” Chris says.

“Re-election?”

“Primaries,” I reply scratching my chin and dropping my other hand to my waist. 

“Senate?” she asks.

“No,” Matt replies.

“Governor?” she looks pretty surprised by that. This will knock her socks off. No one says a word, but everyone looks at her.

“You’re kidding.” She gawks as the pieces fall into place.

“Is it too far fetched?” Matt asks. This is the first time, other than the President, that someone who is not part of this inner circle has heard about this. 

“At first blush?” she asks. “Not entirely. I have to tell you though, that campaign might actually be…fun.”

“It’ll definitely be the best dressed,” Scott chimes in. Matt rolls his eyes.

“Don’t mind him. He’s a little overwhelmed at the idea of being First Lady.” Matt fires back. “Apparently the White House freaks him out.”

“It freaks everybody out,” she counters.

Donna comes over to Liz with a beer. I have to confess I’m a little surprised. I would have taken her for a wine girl myself. But I guess sometimes you just want a beer.

“Well,” Liz says raising her beer to the room. “To Skinner for America.”

“Skinner for America.” Everyone chimes after her.

Donna looks over at me and smiles widely. I can read the anticipation and uncertainty in her eyes. This will be like nothing she’s ever experienced before. But as I watch her laugh with Ginger and Matt, while gently stroking Brianna’s sleeping head, I just can’t seem to envision doing this if we’d never met. I can’t remember what my life was like before she came into it.

And as my tenure with the White House ends and a new chapter begins, I can’t help but feel completely…hopeful.

THE END


End file.
